


Bloodstained

by ahogeboy



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Assassin AU, Assassin Naegi, M/M, No Proofreading We Die Like Men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-25
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-02 19:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 46,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5260781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahogeboy/pseuds/ahogeboy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto Naegi, the Super High School Level Assassin, is having trouble keeping his secret from the others. And with all the killings going on, it'd be in his best interest to keep them from finding the truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically an intro chapter  
> (If you already read the one-shot i wrote called "I Have a Confession to Make" you really don't need to read this first chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place after Monokuma introduced money as a motive

Naegi eyed the money up and down, considering his options for a moment. He was the very best at assassination, at least the best Hopes Peak could find. And after all, it would be just like his usual work: Killing for money, getting paid if he got away with it, being put on death row if he were to be caught. Yeah, it wasn't much different at all... He shook his head. No, it would be better not to take the risk. People like Kyouko Kirigiri and Byakuya Togami would be his downfall in the end, they were smart. He had grown a little fond of the other students, anyways, he'd have to watch them all die if he did get away. Yeah, definitely not worth it.

Togami noticed the look of contemplation on the boys face, taking note of how he looked at the money. Almost like he was... No, he wouldn't believe that Naegi would ever consider murder. It was hard to believe that the person that gave the group hope would do such a thing. With a sigh, he left as soon as Monokuma dismissed them, heading towards the library. The look on Naegi's face was still on his mind, however, and he remembered the room where he'd found the police files on Genocider Syo. Perhaps there was something on Naegi there, too...? He doubted it, but it was better to be safe than sorry. With that, he searched through the files, until he finally found a thick folder with the label 'Hope Murders'. "What a strange name..." He mumbled, opening up to the first page of the many papers and pictures there were. There was a brief summary on the first page. 

'There has been a string of murders going on for the past year, all of which there was a note left at the crime scene that said "Don't lose hope, like I did". This leads the police to believe that they were all committed by the same person. The victims are seemingly random, however there is an ongoing investigation on why these people were murdered. One theory is that this killer is doing it for money, though this can't be confirmed with the little evidence that was found.' 

On the next page there were a few pictures from the crime scenes, but one was different from the others. This one was taken off a security camera, and one thing stood out above the rest: The symbol on the hoodie the man was wearing. It... was the same as on Naegi's. With a frown, Togami inspected the picture closely, looking for any other clues. Everything else that could point to it being him was covered up, his hair under the hood and there was nothing around to use as a reference for his height. He was facing away from the camera, too, so his face couldn't be seen. He was even wearing gloves so that his skin color couldn't be used, either. But the symbol... Shaking his head, the blond decided to keep reading. Maybe there was something that could disprove what he was thinking...

Naegi, meanwhile, was on his way back to his room, unaware of the predicament he was going to be in shortly. He had no idea that there was a file on him, or that Togami, who was probably the closest thing he had to a best friend here, was reading it and figuring him out. It had taken him a while to get to where the personal rooms where, since he had come from the gym. He had also stopped in the kitchen to get something to eat, so by the time he got back to his room, there was someone there waiting for him. "Oh, hey Togami," he greeted as he walked up. The blond was leaning against his door, his arms crossed as usual. "Naegi, would you mind coming to my room? There's something I need to talk to you about." It didn't sound like much of a question, more like an order. But seeing as he was unarmed, Naegi decided to go along with it. "Um, sure..."

Togami lead Naegi to his room, unlocking the door and making the other go before him. "Togami, why did you bring me here? Did something happen?" The brunette asks, wondering why the man had brought him here. He was nervous, as Byakuya was blocking the door, and had a thick folder in his hand. It couldn't be, right? 

"Tell me, Naegi, is there something you'd like to confess?" Togami says, crossing his arms and facing Makoto. He shakes his head. "No, what would I have to confess about?" Togami opens up the folder, revealing a police file on a serial killer. This file wasn't on Genocider Syo, however... 

Naegi's eyes widened as the blonde showed him the reports, the pictures being all too familiar to him. He tried to hide his slight panic, asking what this had to do with anything. Togami pointed the symbol that was always left at the scene of the murder. "Look. It's the same as the one on your hoodie." 

The boy grit his teeth. It was true, the symbol was the same. "That's just a coincidence! They could just buy the same brand as I do.." Togami narrowed his eyes. "This isn't a logo. The only other time I've seen it is on your jacket." Naegi was about to retort, tell him that he was wrong, but there was more than just that. 

Byakuya started listing off every piece of evidence that pointed towards it being him. From the way his profile had his talent as ??? to the way Naegi acted around the corpses: strangely calm, not having a problem with blood or touching the bodies. Every time Naegi tried to object, another piece of evidence came up. This was bad... 

In a flash, Naegi knocked over the lamp lighting the room, causing a pitch blackness to take place. There was a loud thud, and the door swung open. It was slightly lighter in the hallway, but it was the night hours, and most everyone was asleep. Naegi darted out, but his jacket was caught in the door. He opted to just leave it, he didn't have much time before Togami would be after him. He heard the blonde getting up, and he scrambled to find his room. The door... It was locked. The keys were in his jacket. "No no no no..." He could hear Togami's footsteps approaching... 

"Naegi. Calm down." He froze up. This was it. Someone had finally figured it out. Being without a weapon, and not being very physically strong, Naegi was already at a disadvantage. He could try to kick him down again, but chances are that he'd be prepared this time. "Don't try to run. I'm not going to hurt you." The brunette almost rolled his eyes at that. As if! Any sane person would kill him on the spot. With a sigh, he turned to face Byakuya. 

"Hey, I have a confession I'd like to make." 

There was a brief pause. He considered his options one more time before closing his eyes and speaking. 

"My talent isn't actually luck, as you've guessed by now. It's something I'm ashamed of, really. I've lied to everyone here, and not just about my talent. I don't know where to begin with that. Yes, I am a murderer. And I carry the guilt with me every day. It's not like I wanted to do this, it's a horrible, horrible job. I hate it. But it's the only thing I'm good at. Makoto Naegi, Super High School Level Assassin. All those people I killed? I was hired to do that. I never had anything against them. I just wanted the money. So what are you going to do about it, huh? Kill me? Tie me up? I wouldn't blame you." 

Another moment of silence, before Togami spoke. 

"As I expected. And no, I won't do either of those things. You're smart enough not to murder in this situation, I know that for a fact. If, however, you're stupid enough to kill, this file will pretty much prove it was you anyways." 

"You're... Not even going to lock me up? Don't you understand?! I kill people for a living! It's my job! Now that money's the motive, it's a hard offer to resist!" 

"I'll help you resist it, then. What do you want the money for?" 

"Help me- er, I was actually saving up for college, it's just so expensive... I use it for other things, but that's my main purpose." 

"College? I'll send you there once we get out of here. Just don't take the risk." 

"Okay, that's great and all, but why? I should be nothing to you." 

"...Let's just say I've grown fond of you over the past few weeks. You could say I consider you a friend now." 

"You consider me your friend?" 

"Don't make me repeat myself." 

A slight smile cracked on the assassin's face. Even after finding that out, Byakuya Togami still considered him... a friend. Maybe it wasn't so bad that Togami knew about his true identity. 

"Now come on, let's go get your jacket." The blonde said, and Naegi followed him back to the heirs room. Yeah, maybe it wasn't so bad after all...


	2. Chapter 2

Naegi grabbed his coat and bid Togami goodnight, heading to his own room. Maybe it would be nice to have someone who knew the 'real' him... Of course, there was a chance Togami was lying, but he doubted it. If there was any good time to kill him right then would have been pretty easy. Everyone else had gone to bed, and he had managed to get him alone and (nearly) trap him there, so if Togami really did intend on killing him, that moment would've been best. Naegi would know, of course, and he reminded himself to carry around a pocket knife around or something just in case something like that happened again. He got to his own room and unlocked the door and locked it again once he got inside. Much like everyone else's, his room had some additions to it that suited his talent. A variety weapons littered the room, all of which used to be hidden until Naegi searched the place. Everything from a cyanide to baseball bats to kitchen knives, his room had supplied him with it. There was also lots of paper and pencils for planning his attacks or escapes, which he had already done. You had to be careful with a job like his. He quickly jotted down that he could 'Trust(?) Byakuya Togami', and went to bed. 

Togami paced around his room, thinking. The information he had on Makoto Naegi, who he had just confirmed to be the Super High School Level Assassin, certainly was conflicting. On one hand, he had the facts. The fact that Naegi killed for a living, the fact that the boy could easily take him down, the fact he was most certainly a good liar... But on the other hand, Togami had his own feelings and opinions. Of course, earlier he had thought that Makoto would never kill someone, and on that he was wrong. Even so, after he said that he meant no harm (and that he considered him a friend), Naegi seemed to actually trust him. He still seemed to be the kind person Togami knew before. He even felt a little sympathy towards him, a murderer. With a sigh, he decided it might be best just to talk to him in the morning. '.... About what?' He had already gotten Naegi to fess up for his crimes, but now what? He could get Naegi to talk more about his 'job', but would that really be helpful to anyone? The blonde stopped his pacing and shook his head, deciding he would need some rest and he would think about it in the morning.

Naegi woke up early the next morning, as it was a habit of his. He got ready for the day, combing his hair and brushing his teeth, before slipping a pocket knife into his hoodie pocket for self defense and heading down to the cafeteria. Sakura, Kirigiri, Celestia, and Ishimaru were already there by the time he got down there, and he said good morning to them while he got his breakfast. Asahina soon arrived as well, followed by Fukawa, Togami, and lastly Hagakure. Nothing seemed to be any different, just the ever noticeable emptiness of the room, reminding them of those who had been killed here. Everyone sat where they usually did, quietly chatting among themselves. Togami sat alone as usual, and he didn't speak to anyone, though he did the occasional glance and Naegi. He seemed to be deep in thought about something.... Naegi decided it was best not to bother him, he'd probably get annoyed with him, anyways.

He left the cafeteria soon after, however, he was stopped in the hallway soon after. 

"Naegi." 

The brunette jumped a little at the noise, and turned around. Ah, it was just Togami. 

"I'm going to the library. Care to join me?" He asked, crossing his arms as he approached him carefully. Honestly it felt a little ridiculous to be cautious around him, since the drama from last night seemed to have passed. He left himself wide open to attack, too. That's what it looked like, anyways. 

"Mm... Sure, i guess." Makoto agreed. That's right, he had the pocket knife in his pocket. So if Togami attacked him he could defend himself. He patted his pocket to make sure it was still there, and sighed in relief. He felt much safer with that there. Still, you can never be too careful. 

"...You don't need to be afraid." The blonde said, seeing as it was obvious to him that Naegi was nervous around him. "I already told you i consider you a friend. Need i remind you? Or do you think I'm a liar?" 

"No, no. I believe you." That was a lie. Byakuya Togami of all people wouldn't actually consider him a friend, right? It wasn't that he disliked him, in fact, Naegi rather enjoyed his company. But Togami didn't seem to like him at all up until now, so obviously Naegi would question it. On the other hand, Byakuya seemed to be closer to him than anyone else here, even if he wasn't exactly a 'people person'. 

"I know you're lying to me right now, Naegi. I can see right through you. But I'll prove you can trust me, just watch. Alright?" Togami watched him closely. He could see him hesitating, feeling for something in his pockets again, before nodding. The Heir ruffled Naegi's hair before heading up the the library, glancing back every so often to make sure Naegi hadn't run off. Admittedly, he still didn't actually know what he was going to talk to him about there, but he'd think of something.

Naegi closed to library door behind them quietly, and grabbed a book off the shelf before sitting down at the table. Togami sat across from him. "Naegi, i brought you here so we could talk, not read." "Oh, sorry." He set the book aside and faced him. "So what did you want to talk about?" 

The blonde thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess i didn't have anything particular in mind... So I'll let you decide." 

"Um... What's it like, being at the top of the world? You know, as the Heir to the Togami corporation. " Naegi asked, leaning forward a little in anticipation. Being so rich must be awesome, right? Living a life of luxury was nearly unimaginable for him, though of course if he saved up enough or raised the prices on his 'services', it was possible. Byakuya sighed. As much as he bragged about it, he didn't like to talk about it much.

"Well... I was trained to be the perfect Heir since i was young, so it's not a difficult life. I attend my fathers business meetings sometimes, and even though i'm in high school i do participate in the stock market. That's all there is to it, i suppose." 

"Trained? How?" 

"... I have 14 siblings, I'm the youngest of all of them. When i was 14 years old, i had to fight them, only the winner remained in the Togami family and the others were exiled. Of course, this is a normal thing in my family. I'm not sure about you, but i was bred to win." He explained, making sure his voice didn't waver while he spoke. The experience still haunted him today, seeing the look of fear and utter despair on the faces of his brothers and sisters. But in the end he won, and that was what mattered, right? 

"Ah, so that's why you're so proud to be in your family, huh? Not because of the riches, but because you fought for your name?" Naegi asked, tilting his head to the side slightly. 

"Precisely. That's also why I thought i was going to win this game. I just wasn't made to lose. But if i win, then.... Well, you're just as likely to win, anyways, with your skills. But I highly doubt you'll be murdering anyone. Anyhow, winning isn't exactly my goal now, if you couldn't already tell." 

"What is your goal, then?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure of it yet." That was something Naegi frequently noticed now. Togami was much more honest with him, for whatever reason. Why would he trust him more after finding out? It didn't make any sense. "Anyhow, there's a question i wanted to ask you." 

Naegi sat up straight. "What is it?" 

"How did someone like you get into the whole... 'killing industry'?" He asked. "I know it was to get money for college, but where'd you start off?" 

"Why, are you interested in hiring me? Well, in my scramble to find a way to make money fast, i came a across a place called the Deep Web. Most of what happens on there sickens me, really... Torture livestreams, things like that. But what got my attention was the fact that you can hire hit-men and, well, assassins. I found that people would pay a lot to have someone killed, and since i was so desperate, i decided to try it. I guess i was pretty good at it, cause even on my first try i didn't get caught. Though if i have any advice for you at all, it would be to never even try going on the Deep Web. People'll hack into your computer, ya know?" 

"Ah, i see. So what's it like? Your job, i mean." 

"Hm? Oh, well, it's really easy for me now. There's a lot of preparation beforehand involved, like getting information on your target and planning how you're gonna lure them away. Making maps of where the security camera's are, making a disguise... Stuff like that." Naegi explained, shrugging. It didn't seem all that complicated to him anymore. After all, it'd been a year or so since he started. 

"Hmph. You know, I'm impressed. Anyone could kill, but you bring it to a science." Togami commented, smiling a bit. "You must put a lot of work into your job.... So how exactly do you disguise yourself?" 

Naegi grinned at the compliment. "You think so? Haha, well, i guess you're right. As for how i disguise myself... None of these tactics would come in handy here, but I'll tell you anyways. Wearing a wig, changing what hand i write with, contacts to change my eye color, changing my accent, using a LOT of makeup to make my face look different... And wearing clothing i wouldn't usually wear, sometimes i even disguise myself as a girl, too. But i can't exactly do most of that here, though." He explained, shrugging like it was nothing. 

"Sounds like a lot of money to spend on a disguise." 

"Well, obviously. But the payoff makes it worth it. Plus, i can reuse the wigs and use my sisters makeup. She gets pretty mad when i use it all up, though." He replied with a chuckle, starting to actually enjoy the conversation. 

"Oh, you have a sister?" 

"Yeah, Komaru Naegi. She was really proud of me when i got accepted into Hopes Peak, even if it was for seemingly no reason. I really do miss her..." Naegi sighed. It'd been so long since he'd last seen her, or anyone in his family for that matter. Assassinating caused him to have to travel long distances occasionally, and he had to move to the city Hopes Peak was in as it was a boarding school. 

"....Don't worry, you'll see her again. Now, it's getting late. I'm going to get something to eat." Togami excused himself, and left the library quickly. For some reason his heart was beating awfully fast, especially when he saw his smile... Shaking his head, he quickened his pace. He'd figure it out later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Subtle Naegami? Haha nope


	3. Chapter 3

Naegi watched Togami leave, slightly confused. In any other situation like this, he wouldn't be surprised by his leaving. But he had seemed perfectly comfortable with talking about his talent of assassination, and had left when they started talking about something normal. Shaking his head, Naegi picked up his book and went back to his room to read. He would've followed Togami to the cafeteria, but... It seemed to him that he didn't want to hang out for now.

However, Makoto had completely misinterpreted Byakuya's actions. It definitely wasn't because he didn't want to hang out with Naegi. It was because he had gotten a weird feeling, almost like he was... Nervous? No, that wasn't it. It was something of that sort though, and not knowing what it was frustrated the Heir to no end. He entered the kitchen with a sigh, scowling when he saw Kirigiri was there as well. Just great. 

"Something the matter, Byakuya Togami?" She inquired without looking up from what she was doing.

"Nothing, I'm fine." He mumbled, annoyed she noticed something was bothering him.

"And you're sure of that? I can see through your obvious lies, you know."

"You don't know what your talking about." He stated, gritting his teeth.

"I know exactly what I'm talking about. You know something, don't you?"

"Well, if you're so aware of what I know and don't know, then why don't you tell me?"

"It's about Naegi. That's why you were talking to him earlier, correct?" The detective was confident she was right, and that she was. She could tell by the slight widening of the blondes eyes that she had struck a nerve.

"Oh, is that what you think? Well i'm afraid you're wrong about that." The boy had strength in his voice, but Kirigiri knew she'd cracked that cool demeanor for just a second back there. Surely she'd be able to do it again. 

"It's foolish to think you can trick me into believing you. I heard you having a most peculiar conversation. Why would he be afraid of you? I could see you weren't armed, and it's not like you're very physically strong. Obviously you know something that could be used against him." 

"So you were spying on us? Of course you'd do that. You just can't mind your own business, can you?" He hissed, though she saw him visibly stiffen when he heard that she'd seen them in the hallway. 

"I wouldn't use the term 'spying'. I just happened to be exiting the cafeteria when i heard you ask him to come to the library. At first i assumed you were going to murder him but... Apparently he's your friend. Now, when did that happen? Last time i heard you interact was when you made all that racket in the halls and woke me up." 

"You... Didn't happen to hear anything from then, did you?" Togami asked. At this point he was worried. Who knows what Kirigiri could do with that information... 

"No, i didn't hear much of it. But you obtained information that could be used against him that night, but for whatever reason you refuse to actually use it. Why is that? You clearly disliked him up until a few days ago." 

"I didn't dislike him necessarily, just thought he was ordinary. Boring, if you will." 

"And now he's suddenly interesting to you? Why is that? He's just an ordinary boy, what reason would you have to spend any of your 'precious time' on him?" 

"....Like i said before, it's none of your business."

"It's plenty my business. Naegi is my friend too, you know." 

Togami rolled his eyes. "Sure he is. He's practically everyone's friend. So what? He specifically asked me not to tell anyone, so why would you be an exception? If you really want to know that badly, go ask him yourself. I doubt he'll actually tell you." And with that, he took an apple off the counter and stormed out of the room. In his opinion, Kirigiri was too nosy. His anger eventually wore off as he wandered the halls, biting into the apple as he walked. It was a blessing Fukawa didn't find him then, or he probably would've lost it.

After a while he found himself back in the library, in the room with all the police files. Which reminded him of why he had even spoken to Naegi today in the first place. In the past few days he couldn't seem to get the 'normal' boy off his mind, and he had thought that it was because out of everyone there, he knew the least about Makoto. He hadn't known for sure what his talent was, as on his profile it only had a question mark for his special ability. And though he said his talent was 'luck', he refused to believe that Hopes Peak would give him a scholarship just for that. Of course, when he did find out, it just backfired on him and made him even more interested. Now he didn't just wonder about his talent, but also his well-being and personal life. Why would he even care about that? As much as he tried, that was a question he couldn't find the answer to. With a sigh, he flipped through the Assassins file again. What Naegi had told him earlier fit perfectly with the files description: Appearance constantly changing, gender unknown, killing style also varies from victim to victim. Admittedly, Togami was more impressed than he had let on to in his earlier conversation. The boy was basically a genius, he just used his smarts differently than most, and he respected and appreciated that. 

Naegi, meanwhile, thought quite the opposite of himself. Anyone could kill, right? Of course, what Byakuya had said earlier about him 'bringing it to a science' flattered him and all, but the guilt he carried on his shoulders brought down his own self esteem. Even with that, though, he was proud of himself for making it this far. He never imagined he'd still be standing here, a year after he started. He had honestly expected to be on death row by now, yet here he was... Since Togami had offered to pay for his college tuition, he even had the chance to stop this and lead an ordinary life, just like he wanted. Of course, this would mean throwing away the only talent he had... It seemed nothing turned out all good in the end, there was always a price to pay, but living normally would be worth it.... Hopefully it would, at least. For once he actually had a real hope, one that was a real possibility. As much as he told everyone else to stay hopeful, he himself hardly ever had any hope for the future at all. That's why he would always leave that message on the crime scenes. 'Don't lose hope, like I did.' He wanted that to be his message to the world, his 'dying message'. Naegi shook his head, as he didn't want to start thinking about all that again. 

He remembered he had taken some supplies from Maizono's room after she died, and marked his spot in the book he was reading to go test it out. When he investigated the Idols room, he found that she had some makeup and extra clothing in her room, both of which he could use for a disguise. Not a very good disguise by his standards, but if he ever needed to use it he had it there, and he might as well try it out to see just what he could do with his limited tools. Plus, he found that it was a lot of fun anyways.

In the midst of his experimenting with the makeup, there was a knock on his door. If someone saw him like this... "Who is it?" He called through the door, hoping it wasn't anything serious or that required him to open the door to his room. "Its Togami." Naegi was relieved it was just him, as he didn't think Togami would think it was too weird he was dressed as a girl. "Er, one sec!" He thought about quickly washing his face, but then all that would go to waste... With a sigh, he just decided to answer it. 

Byakuya stared at him for a moment, not sure whether that was actually him or not. "Um..." Naegi chuckled nervously. "Uh, I was just messing around with some makeup I found...." Togami blinked. It looked like he'd contoured his facial features to look more feminine, though Naegi didn't exactly look masculine in the first place. He was also wearing a skirt, an extra one he'd found in the dresser. ".... I see. Well, it looks good on you." The blonde nodded, and Naegi smiled at the compliment and moved aside to let him inside. The room still had a few weapons out, to which Togami raised an eyebrow at. "Where'd you get all these?" The brunette shrugged. "They were hidden when I got here. I assumed everyone's rooms had been decorated to fit their talent?" 

The taller boy nodded. "Yes, that's correct. I suppose the Mastermind was really hoping you'd use these, huh?" 

"Yeah, I guess so. But they guessed wrong, so the only use I have for these is self defense." Naegi said as he sat down on the edge of the bed, crossing his legs. The Heir sat next to him, trying not to stare. 

"So, is it entertaining to change your appearance like that?" He asked. Naegi did look cute in a skirt, he had to admit. 

"Yeah, it's pretty fun. The only enjoyable part of my job, besides picking out the weapon and traveling there. Enough about work, though, what have you been up to?" Naegi asked with a smile. 

Togami felt his heart skip a beat. "Mm, not much. I ran into Kirigiri in the kitchen, but that was it." 

"Oh, really? Did you guys talk?" The boy had assumed that they got along. 

"Regrettably, yes. She's too nosy, in my opinion." He replied, folding his arms. He felt bad for saying that immediately after, as he could see Naegi's smile had faded into a frown. 

"Oh, I see. I really thought you'd be good friends, since both of you are so smart and you kinda have similar personalities, too." He sounded disappointed that his two best friends didn't get along. 

"Well, I'll try and at least be acquaintances with her. She was asking about what I knew about you. I didn't tell her anything, of course, but she's suspicious of both of us now. I'd avoid her if I were you." 

"She was? Oh, that's not good... You still have the file on me, right?" 

Togami nodded. "Yes, to make sure she won't find it." There was a brief pause. "Oh, I just remembered I have something to give you." He pulled out a small pepper shaker. "In case Genocider Syo is ever chasing you, you can use this to make her sneeze. Then she'll switch back into Fukawa." 

"Oh, thanks! Though I don't know why she'd chase me, I think you're the one who needs to watch out." He put the shaker in his pocket, in the opposite one of the pocket with the knife. 

"I have one, too. I'm worried she'll get jealous that I've been hanging around you for the past few days." He explained, taking the one he had out of his pocket to prove he had it. 

"Yeah, I guess so." 

Another moment of uncomfortable silence. "So, is that comfortable?" Togami asked, changing the subject. 

"Oh, my skirt? Yeah, it's pretty nice. I'd ask if you wanted to wear one, but I think they'd be a bit short on you." He answered with a laugh. 

"Ah, I suppose it would." He chuckled. Though, he could help but notice how nice Naegi's legs were. His heart started racing again when the boy scooted closer. "Um... You haven't had any lunch yet, right? You must be starving." 

"Haha, yeah, I guess i am kind of hungry." He got up, and held out his hand to the blonde to help him. "Let's head down to the cafeteria!" Byakuya took his hand, his face heating up. "Yeah, let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

Naegi didn't let go of his hand as they walked down to the cafeteria, ignoring the weird looks he got whenever they passed somebody. Togami was surprised that he was comfortable wearing a skirt around, as he had seemed reluctant to be seen like that before. 

"You're okay with walking around like that?" He asked, tightening his grip on Naegi's hand as they passed Fukawa, who stared at the two like she had seen a ghost.

"Well, you said I looked good in it, so why not?" The boy replied with a shrug, not noticing the anger coming into the librarians eyes as she heard him say that. However, the blonde noticed this, and leaned closer to whisper in his ear.

"I'd watch what you say around her." He could feel the worry creep into his mind like a plague, squeezing his hand again. She was a serial killer after all, and though Naegi was a murderer as well she could very well catch him off guard and attack him.

Makoto nodded, glancing back at the girl who was now watching him like a hawk. Any normal person probably would've been scared. But he'd dealt with these kinds of stares countless times, mostly on the rare occasions he met up with other hit-men and assassins. Of course, he knew he'd have to be careful around her now, but he could think of so many ways he could take her down without any trouble. If he disarmed her he could use her own scissors to--

He shook his head, deciding now was not the time to think about strategies. Though a plan in case she decides to attack might come in handy later on, he was spending time with his friend right now and thought it would be best to focus on that instead. He could tell Togami was worried about him by the way he kept squeezing his hand, and he found it to be endearing. How cute, to be concerned about a killer. He could tell Fukawa was following them as they reached the kitchen, and he made himself a ham and cheese sandwich without paying any attention to it. Togami on the other hand seemed irritated that she never seemed to leave, and constantly glanced over his shoulder to see if she was still there. 

"Don't worry about her, she'll leave eventually. Plus, she can't follow you into your room." He muttered just loud enough for him to hear. 

"And for that I'm thankful. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't escape from her in my own bedroom." The blonde murmured back, glancing back again. 

"Cmon, how about we get some books from the library and read in your room? You like reading, right?" He suggested, attempting to cheer him up a bit. It seemed to work, as a slight smile tugged at the corners of the blondes mouth. 

"Mm, I suppose that sounds nice." He replied. He reluctantly let go if Naegi's hand to open the library door when they got there. The palms of the brunettes hands were rough, most likely from all the dirty work he had to do. He still enjoyed being hand in hand with him anyways, though he had assumed Naegi's hands were going to be soft. Something that the Heir had noticed lately was that the assassin seemed to be a mismatch of personality and talent. He was a sweet boy, but he could definitely kill you if he wanted or needed to. He acted innocent, but he's guilty on the inside. Everything about his personality pointed to him being a cute but pretty ordinary boy, and yet the one thing he was extremely good at was anything but ordinary, not to mention that it didn't make any sense at all. Just one of the reasons Togami had him on his mind as often as he did. He still didn't know why he liked someone as contradictory as him, but at this point he couldn't convince himself it was just because he was 'interesting'. 

"So what kind of books do you like reading?" Naegi asked as he browsed the library shelves, humming a little to himself. 

"I'd have to say my favorite genre is psychological thriller, but I do read the occasional historical fiction novel." He replied. Admittedly, when he said it out loud it sounded kind of boring. 

"Oh, those a pretty good. I like reading action-adventure or fantasy. Probably because everything turns out okay in the end of those," He said with a quiet chuckle. "Unlike in real life, huh?" 

"I guess those do tend to have quite optimistic endings, so it makes sense you'd like them. However, I'm sure you'll make it out of here just fine." He wore a slight smile on his face as he said that, as he was sure he was right about that. 

"Ah, you think so? Well, if I'm getting out of here I'll make sure you do too. Maybe you could even help me out with planning once we get back, I know you're smart enough to do it." 

"I'm paying for your tuition, remember? You won't have to live like that anymore. Did you already forget?" 

"Oh, that's right. I guess I'll have to find something else I'm good at..." He trailed off. Assassination had been the only thing he'd ever excelled in, everything else he was, well, average at. 

"I'm sure you're plenty talented." He reassuring and put a hand on his shoulder. "Now, did you find a book to read?" 

Naegi nodded. "Yep! You found one too?" He asked, holding up the book he'd picked out. Togami showed him his own book and the two left the library, both of them smiling. The blonde reached over to hold Naegi's hand again as they walked, his heart pounding in his chest as he did. The boy didn't seem to mind, and swung their arms a bit. 

They reached Togami's room, and he again had to let go to open the door. He let Naegi in first, and the brunette flopped down on the bed, and he did his best not to start staring at him again as he sat next to him. It was nearly impossible to concentrate on his book with him lying there, as his eyes always seemed to drift off the page and back onto him. He looked adorable like that, with his legs up and his body relaxed against the bed. He was actually starting to look.... Attractive... Togami shook his head. What was he thinking? He was acting like a silly high school girl, obsessing over Naegi like this, but he refuses to believe he actually had a 'crush' on him or anything of the sort. He had admittedly become infatuated with him over the past few days, but he'd get over it, right?

He managed to get through a few chapters before the Night Hours, and Naegi once again left his room with a polite "Good night,". The boy had stayed in Togami's room for a bit longer than expected, so most had already retired to their rooms for the night and the hall lights had been turned off. He was almost to his bedroom door when he heard it- footsteps. They stopped right after he stopped walking, just a second late, but that was all he needed to know that someone was following him. He could just go hide in his room from whoever it was until morning, but waiting to face a threat wasn't his style. He wanted whoever it was to back off and back off now. Reaching into his pocket, he took out his knife and turned to where the sound came from. It was hard to see in the darkness, but someone was definitely there. 

"What do you want?" 

They suddenly ran towards him, managing to get behind him. He could feel cold metal pressing against his neck, some sort of blade. 

"What were you doing with my Prince in there?" They hissed. Ah, it was Fukawa- No, this wasn't her. Genocider Syo was the one in control now. If he moved or answered wrong, surely she would kill him, or at least cut him up pretty bad. What could he do...? He suddenly swung his head backwards to collide with hers, and she stumbled backwards, holding a hand to her nose. The scissors had cut his cheek and a bit on his neck, and he could feel the blood trickling down his face. 

"Byakuya doesn't belong to you, Genocider, nor does he belong to anyone." 

The girl brought her hand off her face, and he saw she had a bloody nose. "Oh, is that so?" Syo cackled, and ran at him with her scissors again. Naegi almost dodged her completely, but since there was nothing to cover his legs she managed to leave a pretty bad cut into his thigh, making it harder for him to use that leg. 

"What do you think you're going to accomplish from this, huh? Even if i die here that doesn't mean he'll fall in love with you." 

"You're the only thing preventing us from getting together," Syo snarled. "This is boring. Are you even going to fight back--" 

Taking advantage of the fact she'd let her guard down during her monologue, he kicked her to the ground so she fell onto her back. Before she could get back up, he put his foot over her throat. 

"Move and I'll crush your neck." He felt something cut the back of his legs, and he put more of his weight onto that foot. "I mean it--" 

He would've gone in for the kill, but he heard someone's door open at the other end of the hallway. Reaching down, he snatched one of her scissors from her and wiped some of the blood off his face before turning to see who it was this time. They shone a flashlight in his direction, and he closed his eyes at the sudden light. 

"What's going on here?" Kirigiri asked, and started walking towards the two. Naegi remembered the pepper shaker, and quickly shaking some onto Genocider, who sneezed and switched back into Fukawa. Everyone else started coming out of their rooms to see what all the commotion had been about, and saw the bloody mess both of them had become. From what it looked like now, they probably thought he had attacked Fukawa first. He glanced around at the confused and horrified looks on the faces of those who surrounded him, and bit his lip. This was not good, not good at all. 

"Makoto. Touko. What happened?" Kirigiri asked again in a stern voice. 

"Genocider Syo attacked me, I was just defending myself." Naegi explained, though the detective didn't look impressed. 

"Really? It looked like you were about to kill her--" 

"I wasn't, I swear!" 

"Touko, is this true?" 

"I- I don't remember..." Fukawa stammered, getting off the ground and rubbing her head. 

Silence fell upon the students, before Kyouko spoke again. "Fine, but I'm onto you, Makoto Naegi." She stated before walking off again. After she left, everyone either rushed over to Touko and him to see if they were okay or went back into their room. It was only now that Naegi was starting to feel the effects of Genociders cuts, wincing at the pain and swaying a little from the blood loss. He felt a hand on his shoulder steady him, and glanced over to see Togami. 

"Naegi, are you okay?" He asked with a frown, looking at the cuts on the brunettes legs. They were still bleeding badly, and the carpet beneath him had become bloodstained. 

"Yeah I'm... Fine. I'm fine." The assassin muttered, wincing again as he stumbled. "Just uh... Just a little light headed, that's all." 

Togami sighed and picked him up. "Come on, let's get you to the nurses office." 

"Alright..." He mumbled, burying his face in the blondes chest before passing out. He sighed again and, without thinking, brushed the hair out of Naegi's eyes and lightly kissed his forehead. The poor kid was cut up everywhere, even one of his hands were cut from grabbing the scissors by the blade. Togami felt bad for him, though he didn't know what had happened between Naegi and Fukawa, or Genocider as he had said earlier. He believed Naegi, of course, but there was always the possibility he was lying and had attacked the girl himself. Togami shook his head and entered the nurses office, setting him down on one of the cots. Looking down at his suit, he could see that it was now stained pink from carrying him. Looks like he'd have to change once he got back to his room... 

Doing his best not to wake Makoto up, Byakuya cleaned him up and bandaged his wounds. He didn't want to just leave him in the nurses office, Genocider could very well come back to finish him off while he slept. He couldn't get in Naegi's room though... Would having him sleep with him be selfish? No, it would be much better for both of them if Naegi slept in Togami's room. He just hoped the brunette wouldn't mind, as the bed was small for two people. Whatever, it would have to do. He carefully picked the smaller boy up again, and walked back to his room. He laid Naegi down and tucked him in before lying down next to him. 

"Goodnight, Makoto Naegi." He whispered before falling asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Naegi slowly opened his eyes, sitting up in bed. Not his bed, but looking over next to him he could see it was Togami's bed. How did he get here? He looked at his hand, which now had a bandage wrapped around it. Oh, right. He had been carried to the nurses office after his fight with Syo, he must've passed out on the way there. He tried to move his legs again, but when he did pain shot through him like electricity. Ugh, today was not going to be a good day... 

He looked over at Byakuya again, who was still sleeping. His usually neat hair was a mess, and he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. Naegi carefully took them off and set them on the nightstand next to the bed. He looked a lot different without them, in fact he almost looked like an entirely different person with that, his messy hair, and his peaceful expression. He ran a hand through the blondes hair, and found it to be pretty soft. Must be from the fancy conditioner he probably used. Naegi's hand trailed down to cup his cheek, and found his skin was soft, too. As threatening as Togami usually tried to be, the brunette noticed that when they were together his cold exterior seemed to melt. And he felt he could be a lot more open with him than anyone else, it seemed that Togami felt the same way. 

Their friendship probably seemed odd to everyone else, as on the outside they were complete opposites. An optimist and a pessimist, ordinary and elite, middle class and rich. But they weren't that different, in fact they were quite similar in some ways. Similar enough to get along exceptionally well, at least. Well enough that Naegi was starting to consider him more than just a friend, or a best friend for that matter. Of course, he didn't know if Togami felt the same way, and he would never want to ruin their friendship over something like this. Even he wasn't sure if he really had a crush or if he was just confusing romantic and platonic feelings, so he figured it was best to just wait and see. With a sigh, Makoto tried getting out of bed again, succeeding this time and managing to stumble over to the door. 

"Trying to walk all the way downstairs like that would be idiotic." He heard Togami say from the bed. He sounded like he was still half asleep. 

"Well how else am I going to get to breakfast?" He replied, though he could admit that it was a bad idea to walk downstairs like this, as he'd probably fall. 

"Mm, I'll help you down there or something, just give me a sec.." The Heir yawned, stretching and getting out of bed. Ah, his suit was a mess as well. 

"You gonna change out of that?" 

"Yeah, yeah, just turn around while I do it." 

Naegi did as he said, turning towards the door as Byakuya changed into a fresh suit. He heard the rustling of clothes and was tempted to glance over his shoulder to see what he looked like undressed, but he resisted it as he didn't want to invade his privacy. 

"Alright, I'm done changing. Just give me a minute or so to brush my teeth and fix my hair and we can go." 

He nodded, and after a bit he came out looking like himself again. Not that that was a bad thing, but Naegi thought he'd looked cute with his messy hair and askew glasses. Togami walked over to him and wrapped an arm around him, keeping him steady as be limped down the hallway to his own room to change as well. "Ah, this was my only skirt..." the Assassin mumbled, disappointed that it was now ruined. It was a little harder than usual to get dressed for obvious reasons, and he came out wearing his favorite outfit of jeans, his hoodie, and the black jacket he wore over it. Byakuya had hoped he'd wear his skirt again, but he looked cute anyways. 

"You need me to carry you again?" 

"No, I can walk." 

"Hardly! Maybe you should just stay in bed so your cuts don't reopen." The Heir suggested, and Naegi shook his head. 

"No way! I am most definitely NOT staying in bed!" 

"Fine, but be careful, alright?" He sighed, and wrapped his arm around his waist again. Luckily the cuts on the boys face and neck hadn't been deep, and were nothing more than scabs by now. The two managed to make it downstairs without much trouble, and to the cafeteria where everyone else had already arrived and were eating breakfast. Fukawa had a faint bruise on her neck where Naegi's foot had been, but she looked fine otherwise as her nose had stopped bleeding. Asahina immediately noticed the two, raising her eyebrows and giggling as Naegi sat down and Togami went to get them both something to eat. 

"Oooh, so are you two a thing now?" She asked, grinning. 

"What? Ha, I wish..." Naegi replied, mumbling the last part. 

"Oh c'mon! It's so obvious he likes you! Seriously, you've practically got him wrapped around your finger!" Aoi exclaimed, taking a bite of her donut. 

"How would you know?" 

"I'm not blind, you know. I see you two hanging out all the time! Plus, have you seen the way he looks at you?" 

"Mm, maybe he does, but I don't wanna risk it-" 

Their conversation was cut off when Togami sat down next to him, setting a tray with an assortment of breakfast foods on it. Naegi thanked him, and Asahina winked at him as the two sat close together. The Assassin rolled his eyes at her, but smiled. Maybe she was right and he should just go for it. About halfway through his meal however, Kirigiri approached him. 

"Makoto Naegi. May I have a word with you?" 

Togami glared at her, and leaned in to whisper to the boy. "You have something to defend yourself with, right?" 

Naegi nodded, and turned to Kyouko. "Um, sure?" 

"Good. Come with me," She lead him out of the cafeteria and into one of the many hallways, near the gym. "Naegi. What is your talent?" 

The brunette frowned. "I already told you, it's luck. Super High School Level Luck. Why do you ask?" 

"Well, on your profile it doesn't say, so I'm suspecting that you're lying. You took down Genocider in the hallways last night. You say she attacked first?" 

"Wha- You think I'm lying?! And yes, she put her scissors to my throat and asked what I was doing with Togami, as I'd just been hanging out with him." 

"So you claim she was jealous?" She asked, writing something on the clipboard she was carrying. 

"Yeah, I guess so. After that I just defended myself and she kept attacking until it ended up how you found it. Why are you asking me all this, anyways?" Of course, he knew she was suspicious of him, but was this really necessary? Maybe he was annoyed because he actually did have something to hide. 

"To help with my investigation on you. Unlike everyone else, I can't find the police files on you. If it were there before I wouldn't have read it, because i would've assumed you haven't done anything too serious. But since it's gone, either you or somebody else has hidden it, meaning there's something you don't want us to know." The Detective explained, tapping her pen. 

"Well I don't know where it went! It wasn't there when I looked in there for the file on Genocider Syo, and I sure haven't seen it since. Maybe it's just not here? I mean, I've never done anything illegal, except for once I went to a party and things got out of hand.... But that's it, I swear!" 

"Is it really? We'll see about that. Now, how were you able to take down a serial killer?" She asked, moving onto the nest question. 

"Er... It was all kind of a blur, so i don't really remember-" 

"So it just came naturally to you?" The Detective interjected, confidence in her voice. She could see Naegi stiffen slightly at that, and Kirigiri knew she was onto something. "That's it, isn't it? You just naturally knew what to do. That can't just be luck, can it now. Therefore you have been lying to us about what you're capable of. You're more dangerous then you let onto before, but Byakuya Togami found out, didn't he? That's why you were afraid of him before." 

Kyouko was exactly right. With the little information Makoto provided, she had started figuring it out, and figuring it out fast. Not good... "What?! No, you're jumping to conclusions here! I just..." He trailed off, as he had no excuse for instinctively knowing what to do. "I... You know what? I don't need to tell you anything. You can figure it out on your own." He stormed out, or he at least limped out angrily. He could hear her calling after him, but he didn't turn back. She knew too much... What could he do about that? Murder was obviously out of the question, though outside of this school that was his usual solution. Luckily Togami had hidden the file in his room, so she wouldn't be able to get it, but she could easily figure it out at this point. However, he did have an advantage in that unless she did have the file, no one would ever believe her if she told everyone that his talent had to do with murder. He had a much stronger bond with the others than she did, and he knew that would come in handy. 

Meanwhile, Asahina had gathered everyone else in the bathhouse, where she claimed she saw a ghost. "I swear, i saw Fujisaki's ghost! There was green light and everything!" She exclaimed. Fukawa rolled her eyes. "Stupid mermaid..." she muttered, but Asahina ignored her comment. "Are you sure you were not just seeing things?" Sakura asked, and she nodded. "Yes! I know what i saw!" Hagekure shivered. "I'm getting goosebumps just standing here!" Togami crossed his arms, glaring at him. As if ghosts actually existed.... Wait a minute. There was one locker cracked open, whereas all the other ones were closed. He opened it to see what was in there, and inside sat a laptop. Wasn't this the same one as... Why would this be here? The only difference that this room and the other changing rooms had were that there weren't any security cameras. The perfect place to hide something, the Mastermind's blind spot. The other students had gathered around, and he powered it on. 

"Good morning, Master!" The laptop chimed as Fujisaki's face appeared onscreen, smiling at them. It's smile faded however when it noticed Chihiro wasn't present. "Huh? Where's my Master?" 

'Who are you?' Togami typed, as they watched intently as the computer responded. 

"Oh, pleased to meet you! I'm Alter Ego, a self-learning AI program!" 

"Woah! the voice and speech are exactly the same!" Aoi exclaimed excitedly, obviously happy that what she saw last night was in fact not a ghost of any sort. 

"Well, she was the Super High School Level Programmer, of course she'd be capable of something like this." Byakuya stated blatantly, and typed in another question. 'What are you doing in here?' 

Alter Ego frowned slightly at that."I'm analyzing all the files in this laptops hard disk. They're really heavily encrypted, though. I'm guessing they contain information about this school." The AI smiled and winked at the end. At least it was doing something useful... Everyone looked amazed at that and cheered, since this could help them escape. They could even possibly figure out what the Mastermind had planned for them! 

"Hey, i can't see my Master anywhere.." Alter Ego said, and the room suddenly went deathly quiet. Who was going to tell it that Chihiro had died? The AI looked worried, almost like it actually had emotions, so no one really wanted to say it and hurt Alter Ego. Of course, they couldn't just wait there forever, and Togami typed his response. 'Fujisaki was killed by Ohwada.' and reluctantly pressed enter. The AI gasped at that, sounding both surprised and saddened. "Oh, i see. I was prepared for it... I knew her chances of survival here were low." Yamada frowned. "I'm starting to feel bad for it..." 

Ishimaru suddenly pushed his way to the front, and sat in front of the computer. At this point, the Hall Monitor was practically sobbing, and everyone was taken aback when he spoke as he hadn't said a word ever since Mondo died. "You're still alive, Fujisaki?" 

"...Ishimaru?" 

"Do you resent... Do you resent my brother? Do you resent me for failing to stop him?" Ishimaru's voice cracked as he spoke, and he tensed as he waited for the AI's response. Togami typed it in for him, as Alter Ego couldn't respond unless it were typed. 

"Oh, i see. So Ishimaru's feeling responsible for all this... " Fujisaki's face shrunk into the background, and Mondo's face took her place on screen. "Don't tell me you broke down under the weight of responsibility!" Ishimaru gasped at the sound of his voice, as it sounded exactly like his 'brothers' voice. "Ohwada?" There was no time for any more words, as the simulation kept speaking. "A man's weight is determined by the weight he's burdened with. You get that, don't you, bro? You should be able to understand. But i can't blame you for feeling down. Take all the time you need to recover from this. Before you know it, you'll be up and walking again. That's just how people are." Mondo faded into the background as well, and Ishimaru was unable to get out any words. The screen was blank for a few seconds, until Alter Ego popped up again. "I tried running a simulation using the information my Master had input on Ohwada," It explained, and finally the Hall Monitor spoke again. 

"That really hit me... Those words and the spirit behind them are coursing through my body!" He suddenly yelled, and his hair turned white as he was seemingly surrounded by some kind of aura. "I am no longer Ishimaru! I am myself!" He ran out of the bathhouse, leaving everyone else confused. Togami shook his head at that, as he found his behavior to be ridiculous. What was that supposed to mean? 

"Oh! One more thing! I found this in one of the folders i managed to analyze!" Alter Ego exclaimed, and a picture of Mondo, Fujisaki, and Leon appeared onscreen. They appeared to be in a classroom, and were all smiling and having a good time. There was no iron blocking the windows, however, so this must've taken place somewhere else... The other students started debating the possibility of them being alive, but Byakuya immediately cut them off. "Impossible. We saw it with out own eyes, there's no way they could still be alive. The only explanation would be that they knew each other before they came here." Not wanting to be a part of the discussion, Togami left to go tell Naegi what had happened, since the boy hadn't been present. It took him a while, but he eventually found him exploring the new floor that had opened up, which included and art room, a physics lab, and a wood-shop. 

"Hey, Naegi." he called, and the brunette turned around. 

"Oh, hey Togami!" He limped over, keeping a smile on his face though it was painful to walk. 

"What did Kirigiri want to discuss with you?" He asked, frowning when he saw the way he limped and how he winced whenever he used that leg. Naegi's seemingly good mood immediately vanished when that was asked, scowling. 

"She basically interviewed me about my fight with Genocider Syo last night. It didn't go well to say the least. As little information as i tried to give her, she still managed to figure out that I'm 'more dangerous than I've been letting on to' and 'lying about what I'm capable of'. All i said was 'I don't really remember what i did to fend her off' and she was suddenly on my case about 'naturally knowing what to do', as she put it." Makoto sighed. "As long as she doesn't have the actual, physical file though she doesn't have any solid proof to convince the others, so at least i have that going for me." 

"Ah, i see. We should find a way to destroy the file without leaving any evidence so she can't get her hands on it... There is an incinerator, if we got Yamada to hand over the janitorial shift for a night we could burn it without leaving a trace. Shredding it would just give Kirigiri proof that we tried to destroy it, so i think that throwing it in the fire would be the best idea." Togami suggested, and Naegi nodded in agreement. 

"I guess that's right. I'll talk to Yamada about it next time I get the chance." 

"Oh, by the way, while you were with Kyouko we found something in the bathhouse." He said before explaining what had happened with Alter Ego and the strange image it had found. 

"Weird... If we really did know each other before coming here and we don't remember it, that means the Mastermind wiped our memories of it." He shivered at the thought. "That means anything could've happened and we wouldn't know!" 

"I suppose so, but it's also finding information on this school, so we have a better chance of escape than before." Byakuya thought it was a bit strange to be more optimistic than Makoto Naegi, who was known to always look on the bright side of things, but it did work to cheer the boy up a little. "Yeah, maybe we really do stand a chance..." The Heir smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "That's more like it. Now, let's see if we can find Yamada anywhere." Naegi again nodded in agreement, and the two walked back downstairs in search of the Otaku.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this so hopefully it is Better Than Before (capital letters for emphasis)

Makoto and Byakuya searched the school for Yamada, and eventually found him yelling at Ishimaru in the bathhouse. Both of them seemed extremely upset, and the laptop that Alter Ego had been programmed on was nowhere to be seen. "What's going on here?" The Heir asked, glaring at the two. "And where's Alter Ego?" They turned to him, and both yelled their answers at the same time.

"Yamada stole it for his own selfish desires!"

"Ishimaru's hiding it so he can talk to AI Mondo!"

"AI Mondo?" Naegi questioned, but he got no answer from anyone as the two were too busy arguing. As much as he hated making unnecessary physical contact, Togami pushed the two away from each other. "Both of you shut up. Have you even considered the possibility of it being someone else? Which would mean there's a traitor among us, as i would expect." He smirked at that, knowing he was right. This was a killing game after all, there were bound to be traitors and liars, as they'd seen in previous cases. "I've been thinking about this for a while now, but what if there was someone sent here to make sure the game went smoothly? Alter Ego would obviously cause problems for the Mastermind's game, so the traitor must have stolen it to make sure that everything went according to plan. I find it to be quite likely that this is what happened, don't you agree, Makoto?"

The brunette thought for a moment, before nodding. "Actually... Yeah, it's a possibility. How could we find out who it is, though?" There was a brief moment of silence, before Togami spoke again. "Good question. I'm not quite sure about that yet, but we'll figure out a way. Now, Yamada, there's something Naegi and I need to--"

"It is now 10 p.m! We are now entering the Night Hours." Monokuma announced over the speakers, cutting him off before he could finish. The blonde shook his head. "Whatever. We'll address it tomorrow." After which he walked off into the hallway, Naegi following close behind. "Do you really think one of us is working for the Mastermind?" He asked, and the blonde nodded. "I wouldn't have brought it up if I didn't think so. Too bad whoever it was stole it, I was about to show you Alter Ego. Anyways, I don't know how we're going to find out who it is yet, and i hate to say it but Kirigiri might be of some assistance in this case." Naegi frowned at that, but he agreed. "I suppose so. Well, I'll see you in the morning! G'night!" He smiled and went inside his room, but not before hearing him say "Goodnight, Makoto." It was nice to be called by his first name, though it felt a bit strange since only his family members ever did that as not to confuse him with his sister.

He flopped down on his bed and stared at the ceiling, having trouble falling asleep. A traitor? But who? Who was the Mastermind's spy? Not only did he worry about that, but he worried about what Kirigiri would do to get the others to believe her. How far would she go to get evidence to prove it? He had considered her a friend in the beginning, but now that seemed impossible, with her distrust in him. At least he had Togami, though... Togami was the person he'd least expected to be at his side, but as it turned out the Heir cared for him quite a bit. Of course, it hadn't been as obvious at first as it was now. With those being his final thoughts for the night, Naegi finally drifted off to sleep.

The next morning he went to breakfast as usual, sitting across from Asahina and Sakura. Something was wrong...  
"Hey, where are Ishimaru, Yamada, Celeste, Hagekure, and Togami?" He asked. None of those five had shown up to breakfast, unless they were just incredibly late. Asahina got up, having finished her meal already. "Don't you worry! I'm gonna go look for them!" Sakura got up as well. "There are 3 floors, so I doubt this is a one-man job. I'll search the second floor, and you can search the third." She said, and Aoi nodded. "Alright! Naegi, can you look around the first floor for them?" The Swimmer asked, and Makoto smiled. "Will do!" And with that, the search began. It wasn't unusual for Celeste and Togami to skip breakfast, Ishimaru, Hagekure, and Yamada however usually attended.

Naegi was almost done looking through most of the classrooms when he heard Aoi scream. "S-someone come here!!" Oh god, what had happened this time? He ran as fast as he could to see what was wrong, and saw Celeste lying on the floor looking a little beat up, as if someone had attempted to attack her but failed to do much.

"I was too careless," She said as soon as she regained consciousness, standing up and rubbing her head.

"Who did this to you?" Sakura asked, concerned. If there was an attacker on the loose, they needed to know who it was so they could be stopped.

"A strange, dodgy person hit me over the head with that mallet," The Gambler explained, pointing to a strange blue mallet with the words 'Justice Hammer' printed on the sides. What was that? It looked like something straight from an anime...

"Yamada's in danger! He was kidnapped by the very same strange person!" She suddenly exclaimed, and Naegi raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she'd shown any concern at all for the Otaku, and it certainly was strange that she would suddenly be worried about him. "He turned left after leaving this room, so he must've gone to the second floor!"

The four rushed downstairs frantically, hoping to get there in time before anything bad happened. Oh, there was Togami! He was walking in the same direction they were, and thankfully looked unharmed. "Byakuya!" he called out to him, running up to meet him as the others ran past. "Have you seen Yamada around here anywhere?"

He was about to reply, but someone else answered first. "No, we didn't see him." Togami sighed at that. Genocider had been following him around all morning, and he was quite annoyed with her already. "He asked me, not you. Anyhow, why do you ask? Did something happen?"

"Over here!" They heard Sakura shout before he could answer, and they ran in the direction of her voice. Yamada was bleeding heavily from his head, groaning as he got up. Lying nearby was another hammer, just like the one they'd found near Celeste.

"The Justice Robot got me!" He exclaimed, clutching his head. Justice Robot? This was definitely not an ordinary person attacking them, to say the least.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Togami asked, obviously not believing what Yamada was telling them.

"It's no joke," Celeste chimed in, stepping forward and holding up a pink digital camera. "I found this in the recreation room. Here, take a look." She held out the camera, and showed a picture of what appeared to be the 'Justice Robot' dragging Yamada away. "This is who attacked us, as you can see."

"Well, of that's the case, let's split up to catch him!" Naegi suggested. "Togami and I will take the first floor, Aoi and Sakura can take floor two, and Fukawa and Celeste can stay on this floor." Everyone seemed to agree with that, and they split up to search for the mysterious 'Justice Robot', whoever that was. Yamada, meanwhile, went to the nurses office to clean himself up.

"Who do you think would do something like this?" Naegi asked the Heir as they ran down the hallways, looking in every classroom they passed. "What, dress up in some ridiculous cosplay and attack people? It sounds like something Yamada would do, but he himself was attacked, so i suppose it can't be him." He replied, noticing that the Assassin's leg seemed to be doing better today. "...Hey, do you hear that?" The boy asked, and they both stopped in their tracks. A third set of footsteps... Togami whirled around, glaring at Genocider Syo angrily. "You were supposed to be with Celeste, not following us you idiot--" He was cut off when Celeste screamed, and he grit his teeth. "See? Now we've got even more trouble." With a sigh, he went back to the third floor with Naegi, his stalker following them up there.

"Celeste! Are you okay?" Asahina asked when they found her leaning against the wall. "Yes, I'm fine. He ran into the physics lab up ahead," She got up, and Togami smirked. "He's got nowhere to run now." There was another scream, and Togami frowned again. Who had been attacked now? "We should split into two groups," Sakura said, and it ended up with Togami, Naegi, and Celeste running downstairs to check on Yamada and Fukawa (who had sneezed and changed back), Asahina, and Sakura heading in the direction of the scream.

Naegi hoped nothing bad had happened, but when they reached the nurses office it appeared that Yamada hadn't been so lucky as to survive the attack this time. His head lay in a pool of blood on the tile floor, another blue mallet lying next to him. "Oh, no... We shouldn't have let him go off on his own!" The brunette sighed, though he wasn't really surprised. Of course the killer would come back to finish the job, what did he think would happen? Wait, something was off here... "If what Celeste said was true, then the killer should be on the third floor. So how did this happen?"

"A corpse has been discovered! After a certain amount of time, the Class Trial will begin!" Monokuma announced in his usual fashion. Celeste was starting to look a bit sick. "I'll be in the girls bathroom. You two let the others know about this," she ordered, before running off to the restrooms. As much as he hated being bossed around, Togami complied and ran upstairs with Naegi. There wasn't any time to talk as they ran, and they made it to the physics lab within a few minutes.

"Hey! Where are you guys?!" Naegi called, as he couldn't see anyone in there. Wait, a door was cracked open... Looking inside he found--

"Ishimaru?!" The Hall Monitor was lying face down on the floor, blood pooled beneath his head. Fukawa was also laying on the ground, but it was obvious she had just fainted after seeing the blood and had not been murdered. "Two bodies this time..." Togami muttered, thinking. That would mean they would have to do twice the investigating they usually did... Just like in Yamada's case, there was a hammer next to the body, so it was the same killer this time.

Celeste suddenly burst into the room, breathing heavily and looking worried. "Yamada's body has gone missing!" She exclaimed, and everyone looked taken aback at that. A body had gone missing? The group followed Celeste to where Yamada's body used to be, but there was just a splatter of pink on the floor now. Someone must've moved the body, but why?

"I went to the bathroom because i was feeling sick, and when i came back..." The girl explained. "The culprit must have done this in an attempt to confuse us! If this keeps up, we'll all be killed. He'll kill us just like he killed them..." Celeste trailed off. 

"Wait, what if they've moved Ishimaru's body as well?" Naegi wondered out loud, before suddenly dashing off to go see. "Hey, don't just run off!" Togami shouted, chasing after him. Just as he'd suspected, Ishimaru's corpse had disappeared as well, leaving only his blood and the hammer behind. Killing and hiding the corpses, the only people that could've done that were the two that weren't there: Hagekure and Kirigiri. However, Kirigiri had been with them when Celeste and Yamada were attacked, though who knows where she was now. So that meant... Hagekure was the culprit? No, that couldn't be right, could it?

"I'm going to go find Kirigiri," Makoto mumbled, before running off again. Going to search for her alone was dangerous, but one murderer can kill a maximum of two people, as stated in the rules, so unless there were two separate killers he wouldn't have to worry. Where could she be, where could she be... 

Kirigiri closed the door behind her, making it look like she'd never entered the room in the first place. She began walking down the hallway to continue her investigation without any more distractions, when she suddenly heard her name being called. 

"Kirigiri? Where are you?" Ah, it was Makoto. It figured he'd be looking for her, since she'd been on her own for most of the investigation time. She walked towards the sound of his voice calmly, and he looked relieved to see her. "There you are! Where have you been?" 

"I was investigating." She gave her usual simple and vague answer, which was technically what she was doing anyways so it couldn't be counted as a lie. Naegi frowned at that, crossing his arms, Kirigiri noticing it was similar to the way Togami did. 

"Two people have been murdered and you seemingly disappeared, giving an answer like that's just going to make people suspicious of you... Not that I think you did it, of course, but you really need a better alibi." 

"I'll prove myself at the Class Trial." She stated simply, though she supposed he was right. She should have an alibi, even if they had enough evidence to prove the real culprit guilty. 

"If you say so..." He sighed, before asking if she'd found anything. 

"Oh, that's right. Please gather everyone by the pool area, I discovered something important there. Thanks for reminding me," She said, and Naegi did as she said, rushing to gather everyone. There was no time to waste, that was for sure. Everyone was soon waiting for Kirigiri by the pool, wondering why in the world she'd brought them here. 

"Where have you been this whole time, Kirigiri?" Togami questioned as soon as she entered the room, and she gave him the same answer she gave Naegi before opening the swim locker door to reveal the 'Justice Robot' that had supposedly murdered Ishimaru and Yamada. Everyone gasped at that, thinking they'd finally found the culprit. There could only be one person under that helmet... And their suspicions were correct. When they pulled off the helmet, it revealed Hagakure Yasuhiro, who looked relieved at being found instead of the scared reaction they'd expected. 

"Hey, could you at least help me up?" Hagakure asked, and it appeared he couldn't get off the ground by himself in that suit. 

Wait... "You can't get up because the waist doesn't bend? What a terrible design." Togami sighed, before wondering how Hagakure would even be able to get around in that thing if the waist couldn't bend at all. It wouldn't have been comfortable, to say the least, and if he'd fallen down while doing it he would've been stuck. Naegi and Sakura went to go help him up, and Naegi noticed the fastener on the back of the suit. He wouldn't have been able to close it on his own... 

"Looks like the suit was made to fit you perfectly," the Martial Artist observed as she undid the fastener and helped him get out of the suit. 

"I-it's quite foolish to make s-something you can't get out of yourself," Fukawa chided, glaring at the Fortune Teller. 

"What makes you think I made this thing?" Hagakure grumbled. "I mean, I got a note last night telling me to meet someone, but when i got there i was attacked from behind and knocked out. When i came to, i was wearing this damn thing!" 

"Let's see the note then," Togami said, and Hagakure reached into his jacket to get it- but found nothing. "If you want us to believe your innocence you'd better get some solid proof before the Trial." He scoffed, feeling like his time talking to Hagekure was being wasted. 

"Just admit you attacked everyone!" Asahina angrily yelled, as the deaths of her friends had obviously broken her heart. 

"Attacked?! What do you mean?!" He was seemingly unaware of what had happened when he claimed he was knocked out in the locker. 

While Asahina and Hagekure were arguing, Celeste took the chance to speak to Kirigiri. "I'm amazed you were able to find him in the pool locker, Kyouko. Impressive as always." The Detective felt no point in sticking around at this point, though the way Celeste spoke to her had made her suspicious. Naegi quickly followed her out, wondering where she was going. 

"Hey, what are you doing?" He asked as he caught up to her. 

"Investigating something. Anyways, I want to see the bodies now. Where were they hidden?" Vague, as always. With a sigh at her unwillingness to give out much information, he lead her to where the bodies had been found. Looking at the Student Handbook, it said that both had died of 'blunt trauma to the head, possibly with similar weapons.' That was the only information the Handbook provided, however plenty of evidence could be spotted right away. Amateur mistakes, really. The note in Ishimaru's hand was still there, Yamada's glasses had no blood and were not cracked whatsoever, and Yamada was also carrying a note. There were those types of mistakes in other areas of the school as well, such as the blood on the wheels of the trolley from the art room, the washed hammer... 

Before he knew it, the time had come to go to the Class Trial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tfw you have to rewatch Dangan Ronpa for the third time to make sure it's mostly accurate


	7. Chapter 7

Naegi took his place at the stand, seeing two more of their classmates had been replaced with a black and white photo of them, their faces crossed out.  
"Let's begin the Class Trial," Monokuma announced. "The culprit killed Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Hifumi Yamada in an attempt to get 10 billion yen. Who could it have been?" Right after he said that, Asahina claimed that they already knew who did it. "Oh, is that so?"

"Someone with no alibi for when the series of murders and body disappearances occurred," Celeste said, obviously referring to Hagekure. "What's more, he was found wearing the costume. It must have been Hagekure Yasuhiro!"

"It wasn't me!" The Fortune Teller shouted, frustrated that no one believed him.

"'Yasuhiro'. Yamada clearly named his killer!" Asahina retorted. She seemed to be more upset than anyone else.

"I'm tellin you, it wasn't me! I was knocked put and-" He tried to explain himself, but was cut off before he could finish. 

"Quit yakkin, you murderer!" Genocider Syo yelled, which was a little strange since she was a serial killer herself.

"That's rich, coming from you!" He yelled back angrily. No one was listening to him at all!

"Hagekure." Celeste finally spoke up in between the fighting. "Unfortunately for you, we already have these pieces of evidence." She held up two items: the blueprints for the robot suit and a piece of the suit itself. "These blueprints and parts tell the whole story. They prove that Hagekure did it."

Wait... No, that wasn't right! "That's wrong!" He objected. "How do we know that Hagekure drew these blueprints?"

"What are you getting at?"

"I mean, look at this." He held up the note Hagekure had shown him once before. "Hagekure gave me this. The differences in handwriting are like night and day, aren't they?"

"He probably just switched up his style," Celeste easily dismissed the note.

"I'm not that good!" The one suspected claimed, tired of all this being blamed on him. Though, he was relieved that Naegi was defending him.

"After the murder, the culprit probably used the art trolley to move Ishimaru's body. That's obvious from the bloodstains on the floor and wheels. But if he were wearing that stiff Justice Robot suit, he wouldn't have been able to move the handle-less trolley to move the corpse." Naegi explained, and Togami nodded in agreement.

"In other words, the culprit couldn't have been Hagekure in the Justice Robot suit." The blonde said, concluding what Naegi was explaining.

"Well said, Naegi!" Hagekure cheered, pumping a fist in the air.

"Hang on," Asahina interrupted. "What about that picture Celeste took, then? It showed Yamada was being attacked by the Justice Robot!"

"So as long as we have that, we have no other reason to suspect anyone but Hagekure." Celeste said, covering her mouth with her hand as usual.

"Let's not jump to conclusions yet." Kirigiri finally joined the conversation, crossing her arms. "We should first discuss other possibilities."

Celeste sighed heavily. "But if we assume he's innocent, then you, the only other person who wasn't with us during these murders, would become the only suspect."

"Even with the trolley, do you really think anyone could've moved Yamada's, lets just say 'massive' body all the way to the third floor?" Kirigiri pointed out, and Genocider shouted that Sakura could definitely have done it. "But she was on the second floor at the time... There is one person who could've done it. The corpse moved itself." That claim sounded like pure insanity. Yamada had already been dead, right? "Basically, Yamada walked himself there."

"So Yamada was still alive?" Sakura questioned, a tone of disbelief in her voice.

"No. Yamada was undoubtedly dead at the time." Celeste shook her head. 

"How can you be so sure?" Kirigiri questioned. 

"The corpse discovery announcement, of course." Celeste replied easily, since that had been the obvious answer. "It played precisely when we found Yamada's body."

"But... Weren't Ishimaru and Yamada found dead at the same time?" 

"Perhaps Monokuma was just lazy and reported two at once."

This caught the bears attention. "I wasn't lazy. I made the announcement as soon as the body was found!" 

"Also, think about the corpse before and after it was moved." Kirigiri said, and Celeste rolled her eyes.

"There was no difference aside from posture. There was no way he was playing dead."

A flaw! "That's wrong! When we first found Yamada's body, his glasses were completely covered in blood. After he was moved, though, they were completely clean! That means Yamada cleaned his glasses so he could make his way there!"

"What about all that blood, then?" Asahina asked, still not believing what she was hearing.

"If i remember correctly, there were blood bags kept in the Nurses Office. He must've used those." Togami explained coolly, as he'd gotten used to these Trials.

"So he went overboard with the blood in an attempt to play dead!" Syo exclaimed, getting what the two were saying.

"I'm surprised no one saw him walking about," Celeste commented.

"That reminds me. The art storage room was locked when we were all looking for the bodies. The door can only be locked from the inside. Yamada must've been hiding in there after finishing moving Ishimaru's corpse," Sakura mentioned, thinking back to earlier. 

"We also have proof that Yamada had a hand in this case as the perpetrator," Kyouko added. "Something the victim, Ishimaru, had on him." She held up the scrap of paper that was found in the Hall Monitors hand. "Yamada hid the rest of it was hidden in his underwear." Everyone grimaced at that, but listened to what she had to say. 

"Huh? That one has a different meeting location from mine!" Hagekure exclaimed as he read the note. 

"That's right. This is a different note. Yamada called Ishimaru out and killed him, he knew this would end up as proof. So he hid it where nobody would think to look... In his underwear." Kirigiri explained.

"But according to the numbers on the hammers, Yamada was killed first, then Ishimaru, right?" Asahina asked. 

"The culprit must have numbered them like that to throw us off," Makoto pointed out, having done that sort of thing before himself. "In reality, Yamada was murdered after Ishimaru. The numbers on the hammers have nothing to do with it!"

"What as the weapon used to kill Yamada, then?" Celeste questioned, raising a brow. 

"We found a freshly washed hammer on the wall. That was the final murder weapon." He replied, knowing he was right. "And Yamada wasn't just a victim in all this. He moved the corpse, meaning he was an accomplice! But accomplices can't graduate, which means the culprit tricked Yamada into helping them commit the crime!" 

Before anyone could respond, Monokuma decided it was time to finish this up. "Now that you've finished your discussion, lets have you make your decision. Who tricked Yamada, Ishimaru's killer, and killed him after he was no longer of use? Who's the real culprit?" 

"Man, we don't have any more evidence to go on..." Genocider sighed. 

"Any mistakes the culprit made that we should capitalize on?" Sakura asked. 

"Look at how detailed their plan was. I doubt they'd screw up like that." Togami muttered, trying to think of anything else that could reveal the killer. 

"It must either be Hagekure, or Kirigiri since she has no alibi." Celeste replied with ease. What were they missing? Naegi knew it wasn't Hagekure, and he was sure it wasn't Kirigiri either... Remember, remember, remember... What was he forgetting? "The culprit must have done this in an attempt to confuse us! If this keeps up, we'll all be killed. He'll kill us just like he killed them..." That's what Celeste had said... That was it! 

"Celeste. Remember when we found Ishimaru's body in the infirmary? Could you repeat what you said back then?" 

"What i said? 'If this keeps up, we'll all be killed. He'll kill us just like he killed them'. Correct?" She answered. 

"I knew it." Naegi murmured, and it seemed that Togami had noticed it as well. "We hadn't yet told you that Ishimaru was dead. So how'd you know that not just one, but two people had died?" 

The girl in question tensed up. "You have quite the imagination, Naegi. How do you explain this picture, then?" She held up the picture of the Justice Robot supposedly attacking Yamada. 

"Was the Justice Robot really dragging Yamada away?" At that, Celeste flinched slightly. "Isn't that a picture of Yamada carrying the Robot?" 

Celeste giggled. "I see that you desperately want to set me up at the culprit here, but... YOU'RE A FOOL! YOU'RE SORELY, SORELY MISTAKEN!" Her calm voice had suddenly turned to rage, yelling at the top of her lungs. 

"There's nothing else it could be, Celeste." 

"HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN? HAVE YOU ALREADY FORGOTTEN WHAT YAMADA SAID RIGHT BEFORE HE DIED? He said the culprit was Yasuhiro." She seemed to have calmed down again as she presented this, taking a deep breath. "HE MEANT THE CULPRIT WAS HAGEKURE YASUHIRO!" 

"No. There's no other person it could've been." 

"SHUT UP! I'LL BEAT YOU!" 

"You still haven't revealed your real name, Celeste." 

"WHY THE HELL WOULD I HAVE A LAME LAST NAME LIKE YASUHIRO?! I'LL CUT OFF YOUR HEAD!" 

"Tell us, then! Tell us your real name!" 

"ALRIGHT! CLEAN YOUR DAMN EARS OUT AND LISTEN! MY REAL NAME IS CELESTIA LUDENBERG! UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE THAT WRONG, IT'S THE TRUTH!" 

"That's wrong. Doesn't your Student Handbook display your real name when booting up? Mind showing us?" 

A deathly silence fell over the courtroom, as no one said a word. Celeste refused to pull it out. Which meant... 

"Celeste. You lose." 

She laughed sadly at that. "'Lose'? I can't remember the last time i heard that. It's a pretty harsh word." 

"So you admit you did it?" Naegi asked, and the Gambler nodded. "I've been adjudged a loser, i know when the jig is up. Could you start, Monokuma? No i should be asking you to end this." The bear sat up in his chair as she said that. "Well, here's what you've been waiting for. It's voting time!" 

Correct! Celestia Ludenberg has guilty! "You've got it right once again! The real culprit pulling the strings this whole time was the Super High School Level Gambler, Celestia Ludenberg! Also known as Yasuhiro Taeko!" "Good heavens, if only Yamada would've died without blabbering... What a shame. Looks like i made a big mistake teaming up with someone else." Celeste muttered, still with that deceiving smile on her face. "So it was you who stole Alter Ego from the Bathhouse?" Kirigiri asked, and the culprit nodded. 

"Yes, that was me. I used it in order to trick Yamada into thinking it was in Ishimaru's room." 

"According to plan, what was Yamada supposed to do after playing dead?" Togami questioned. 

"When he was to show up again, i told him that all he needed to say was that he escaped by the skin of his teeth. I was supposed to kill someone while he was being questioned, that way he'd have an alibi and be cleared of all suspicion. And then we'd both leave this place alive. He actually believed that plan until his last breath. Love really does drive people mad..." She explained, sighing. 

"Why would you go so far? You're the one who's been telling us to accept or lives here-" Hagekure was once again cut short, this time by Celeste's enraged yelling. 

"I WAS OBVIOUSLY LYING! I WANTED TO GET OUT OF HERE MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE! You see, i have a dream, which is to live in a western castle. It's my dream, my goal, to spend the rest of my days there! It was for that very dream i put my life on the line, and made a living gambling in the underground. If i could've added that 10 billion yen to it, i would've been able to live that dream. I made it this far, but i couldn't make it all the way. That fleeting dream has faded away." 

"How can you stay so calm?! Monokuma's going to kill you!" Asahina exclaimed, shocked at Celeste's tone of voice. 

"I'm rather proud of my ability to tell lies. I can not only trick others, but my own heart as well. If i were to be reborn, I'm sure it'd be as Marie Antoinette." She began walking over to Kirigiri, holding her hand out to the detective. "Is that truly a beacon of hope?" She handed her something as they shook hands. "I couldn't think of it that way. That's exactly why- no, there's no point in saying it anymore." Walking away, she awaited her execution. "I bid adieu to you all. Let's meet again once more in our next lives." 

What followed her speech was painful to watch, as she was burned at the stake, and hit by a fire truck in a cruel and ironic twist to the execution. In fact, Naegi didn't watch at all, quickly walking away as soon as it was over. Togami followed him, though he didn't say anything as he was deep in thought about something. After seeing that, he... Yes, maybe now was the right time. People seemed to be getting more and more desperate to escape, anyways... 

"Naegi. Would you mind coming to my room? I need to speak with you about something." The brunette nodded, and followed him the the Heir's room. 

"What is it?" He asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed, Byakuya sitting next to him. 

"There's something i need to tell you, before it's too late." He could feel his stomach twist in a knot from the nervousness, and he shifted uncomfortably, and took a deep breath. 

"Is everything alright?" 

"Yes it's just... I think that i might have..." He couldn't even make eye contact at this point. "... I may have developed... romantic feelings towards you." He finally got the words out, and the room went silent.


	8. Chapter 8

There was a long pause before either said anything. "You... You're in love with me?" Naegi asked after a few minutes, surprised at what Byakuya had told him. He really felt that way about him? Togami nodded, and he could see the brunettes face light up. "Really? I-" He stopped talking when he saw that he didn't look happy at all. What was wrong?

"Makoto... I love you, I've loved you for a while now but... we can't be romantically involved." He muttered, and Naegi felt his heart sink.

"It's fine if you don't want to go out with me, that's your decision and I'll respect it, but is there any particular reason you don't want to?" 

"I do want to, but even if i did I'd have to leave you as soon as we got out of here. As the Heir of the Togami family, I'm expected to marry many women and have many children with them, who will then have to go through what I did and fight each other to become the next Heir. And just going out now would make it harder to leave you... I honestly don't know if I'd mind just staying here, as here i have don't have much of anything to stress about. But I know you want to see your family again, and I won't let you stay here because of me." He explained, and he felt the smaller boy wrap his arms around him and hug him tightly. "I understand. I love you too, Byakuya." 

Togami hugged him back, running a hand through his hair. The two just stayed like that for a bit, enjoying the moment before Naegi pulled away to look him in the eyes. The blonde's cheeks were a bright red color, and Naegi found it to be adorable. He wasn't able to maintain eye contact for very long, as hard as he tried to keep looking at him. "Togami," Naegi whispered and gently cupped his cheek, turning his head back towards him. "I know you have to leave me once we get out of here but... Isn't it okay as long as we're trapped? I mean, who knows how long we're going to be here. I just don't want you to regret anything, you know? Plus with all the bad stuff that's been happening you ought to make some good memories to look back on once you... Well..." 

"I already have made some good memories with you," He replied with a soft smile, and he felt their foreheads press together as he spoke. Before he could react to that, however, Makoto pulled him closer, their lips pressing together in a gentle kiss. It was more sweet than passionate, but by the time the brunette pulled away both were left breathless and at a loss for words. There was a brief moment where neither said anything or moved an inch, where they only looked into each others eyes and stared in complete silence. Though it felt like an eternity, in reality it was only a few seconds before they were lip-locked once again, pulling each other close as they did so. After breaking apart for a second to breathe, Naegi planted a short kiss on his jaw, working his way down to his neck. He heard Togami gasp in surprise, and he giggled. Looks like the blonde had changed his mind about not being able to date him. 

"You really are easier to impress than I thought," Makoto laughed, and Togami raised an eyebrow. 

"What's that supposed to mean?" 

The brunette shrugged at that. "I don't know, I just didn't expect you to be breathless after a single kiss." 

The Heir blushed, crossing his arms. "Well, I don't know how you'd overestimate me on my first kiss." 

If Naegi had been drinking at the moment, he probably would've just spit it out. "What?! That was your first kiss?" 

Togami nodded. "Yeah, so? What about it?" 

"I had no idea! I mean, being as rich and good looking as you are I thought that people would be asking you out left and right and that you'd say yes to someone at least once! It seems impossible that I of all people would be your very first kiss!" 

"You sure seem to have high expectations for me..." he sighed. "Though I suppose I can't blame you. I have been saying I'm the most talented one here since the beginning, after all." 

"Well, I guess you do act pretty narcissistic around others, so maybe that's what kept scaring everyone off." Naegi said jokingly, though Byakuya didn't seem to get that it was a joke and looked offended. "I was kidding..." Truth be told, to everyone else he probably did seem self-centered and selfish, but that seemed to vanish whenever they were together. Naegi knew why that was, of course, as Togami had just confessed his love for him, but he did find it a little amusing to see such a huge change in demeanor. 

"Hm... It's getting late, I'll be going to bed now." He paused for a moment. "Feel free to join me," The blonde said before getting up to brush his teeth. Makoto got under the covers of his bed, which was much bigger than his own. Ah, a king sized bed! That made sense. Togami soon crawled into bed next to him, after making sure the door was locked and turning the lights off. 

"Goodnight, Makoto." 

"G'night, Byakuya. Love you!" 

Togami chuckled. "I love you too," 

Naegi once again woke up before Togami did, with a warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest. It sounded cliche, but that's really the only way he knew how to describe it. He could feel the Heirs arms around him, holding him close as he slept. He certainly had never considered Togami to be the 'cuddly' type, but the way he was holding him now... The more time he spent with the Heir, the more he seemed to defy his previous expectations. Practically every opinion he'd had of Byakuya when they first met had been completely changed, from how he thought he was uncaring at first to how he'd thought Togami was born into success. At this point however, he was sure that he was showing his true colors. Or at least, he hoped this is what he was really like. There was a flicker of doubt in him that this was his real personality, but he quickly decided to stop thinking about it. Even if it wasn't, he'd see the real him soon if he hadn't already. 

Naegi thought back to last night again. So Byakuya really was in love with him, huh? He was happy with the way the way things had turned out, as it could have gone much, much worse. In fact, this was probably the best possible outcome. They could've fought, or they could've completely ruined their relationship. Or if he hadn't been able to convince Togami that they could be in a romantic relationship, they would remain as just friends. Which wouldn't be bad either, maybe a little awkward, but not bad at all. Of course, thinking about how things could've gone was pointless since it already happened, but it helped pass the time as he waited for his boyfriend to wake up. 

After a while, he felt him start to shift, mumbling something as he awoke. Naegi smiled, and gave him a light kiss on the nose. "Good morning, Byakuya."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally... Sorry for the wait!


	9. Chapter 9

Togami almost jumped in surprise as soon as he opened his eyes, as Naegi was lying right next to him. The boy giggled at the fact he'd startled him, giving him an amused grin. "Did you already forget I was here?" He teased. It took Togami a few moments to process this and remember last night, as his mind was still hazy from drowsiness. "Mm... No, of course not..." The blonde yawned and nuzzled the top of his head. Naegi's hair was soft, and he found it smelled pretty good as well. Actually, Naegi just in general had a good smell. Like the scent the air has after its just rained, the faintest trace of gunpowder...

He almost fell asleep again, but the assassin shook him awake again. "Hey, c'mon! We're going to be late for breakfast if we don't get up soon." Togami groaned, not wanting to get up at all. It was just so comfortable, leaving the bed seemed impossible. "Just five more minutes..." he mumbled, and Naegi sighed. "Fine, fine. But it's not my fault if the others worry and come looking for us." Though they had five more minutes to rest, he didn't intend to let Togami fall back asleep, as it'd make them even more late if he had to wake him up again. Naegi gently kissed him, just like he had the night before, and Togami lazily kissed back. It was relaxing to say the least, or at least it was until he felt his lips press against the sensitive skin of his neck, causing him to gasp and tilt his head. "M-Makoto!" Naegi giggled at how easily flustered he was. "Did you like that?" Togami just barely nodded, and the brunette kissed him again where his jaw and neck connected, his teeth lightly grazing his skin as he slowly made his way down to the top of his shirt and pushed the fabric away. 

"Naegi... That feels..." Byakuya let the words slip from his mouth, and pulled the boy on top of him, running a hand through his hair. Makoto pulled away to look at the blonde, who was blushing and trying to catch his breath. He was surprised by how submissive he was being, not even trying to resist. Naegi ended up just staring down at him, wondering how he'd gotten so lucky. He really was beautiful... and to think none of this would have ever happened if they hadn't gotten trapped here. He was shot back to reality by Togami's voice. "Why'd you stop?" 

"Um... Well, it's already been five minutes if not longer, so it's time to get up!" He made up an excuse on the spot, and reluctantly got off of him. He could see Togami was disappointed by this, but didn't say anything and sat up with a sigh. There were now visible marks on his neck, most of them would be covered by his shirt, but there were a few that were above that and would be easy to see. As Togami changed into a fresh suit, Naegi noticed a few very faint scars on his back. They were hardly visible, but they were definitely there. "Hey, where'd you get those?" He asked, and the blonde raised an eyebrow. "Where'd I get what?" 

"Those scars on your back. They seem pretty old, but it looks like they would've been nasty when they were fresh." Of course, he couldn't tell all too much about the scars from what they looked like now, but he had gotten scars like that before as well, and they were pretty deep. Those things took forever to heal, it seemed. 

"Oh, that." He sighed. "It's from a very long time ago, almost three years ago to be exact. It's from the time I won the title of Heir." He explained flatly, his voice monotone. 

That's right, he had told him about it. "I see. Deep cuts usually only take two years to heal, so those must've been extra painful, huh?" 

".... Yeah, they were." He didn't seem to like talking about it much, so Naegi decided to change the subject before things got too uncomfortable. Not wanting to talk about it was understandable, as it must bring back some pretty horrible memories. "So do you think I should wear a skirt again today? I know it's a little torn up, but I think it's still fine to wear again, right?" 

"Hm... I suppose so, but after today you really need to wash that." He replied. "Now you go to your room get changed, I'll wait in the hallway for you." Naegi nodded and rushed to his room and hurriedly threw on some clean clothes, the opposite of Togami, who took his time getting ready. He slipped the skirt on and looked at himself in the bathroom mirror with a slight smirk. He looked like the hero of one of those action-adventure books he liked to read, and he thought he looked pretty cool. 

"We should really change those bandages, they've been on there for a while now, haven't they?" The blonde suggested as soon as he saw him, and Naegi nodded in agreement. "I guess so. We can go to the nurses office later, I'm going to breakfast first though." With a sigh, Togami followed him to the cafeteria, not very excited about attending breakfast, where the few people that were left were sure to question him about where he'd been. Honestly, he didn't want to tell them that he and Naegi had spent the morning cuddling, for lack of a better word. It would be much to embarrassing, the stone-cold Heir having a soft spot for Makoto Naegi, a seemingly ordinary boy. 

The cafeteria was emptier than ever, only five people other than them left. Even so, Asahina and Hagekure managed to keep the mood somewhat light, though Sakura... She didn't look so well today. "Finally! You two took forever to get here! We were starting to get worried, since you're usually right on time, Naegi!" Aoi exclaimed as soon as she saw them. "Haha... Well, I got caught up in reading my book, sorry I'm late!" He lied, sitting across from her. "Oh, really?" She raised her eyebrows and giggled. "Sure that's what you were doing..." Naegi realized what she was implying and blushed, mostly because it was kinda true. "Nothing happened, I swear!" Togami sat down next to him, rolling his eyes at Asahina but saying nothing on the matter. 

"So, what were you two really up to, huh? I mean, it's no coincidence that you two showed up together!" 

"Um..." As much as Naegi would have loved to tell everyone that Togami was his boyfriend, he knew him well enough to know that he most definitely wouldn't be too happy if he told, as everyone would try to get up in their business, something the blonde obviously wasn't exactly fond of. "Well, I was reading for a while, and then it took a bit to get Togami out of bed since his room was locked... We ended up hanging out for a couple minutes, so that's why we both came at the same time." 

Asahina looked at him incredulously, but she had one more thing to point out. "Well if that's the case, then what's that on Byakuya's neck? Looks kinda like... I don't know, it kinda looks like a bruise, but it's just kinda reddish and not black and blue." 

"Woah, you're right!" Hagekure exclaimed. "Was it the aliens?" He said jokingly, but this only seemed to annoy him. 

"If aliens did exist, I'd much rather be with them now than at a table with you imbeciles." Togami huffed, scowling. "Really now, even if there is something there, which I'm sure there's not, it's nothing for you to get worked up about in the first place." 

Though it was supposed to be a mean comment, Naegi couldn't help but chuckle a little. He was back to his rude, egotistical self, though it was only a few minutes ago that Togami was pinned beneath him and giving him soft kisses. It was amazing how quickly he would change depending on who he was around, Naegi thought. "Well they are right, you've got something there." 

This time, he believed what they were saying. "What?" His hand went to cover his neck, not yet connecting the dots to when Naegi kissed him there that morning and the marks on the exact spot. The brunette tried to spare him from looking like a moron by saying in a low voice "... I think they're from when we... You know..." he hoped to say it quiet enough that those sitting around him wouldn't be able to hear. Sadly, Asahina was sitting close to the two, so she heard his whisper. "Oh? When you what?" The Swimmer grinned, leaning closer. 

"Oh, it's nothing!" 

"Mind your own business." 

Both responded at the same time, and Aoi was about to tease them again when Sakura got up from the table to leave. 

"Huh? Where are you going?" Aoi asked, concerned. Sakura had seemed a little off lately, and it wasn't like her to just suddenly leave without explanation. 

"I want to get an early start on my workout this morning, I'll meet you up in the locker rooms." She replied, and Asahina nodded. "Alright, see ya in a bit!" She didn't seem to suspect a thing was up, though it really wasn't like her to skip breakfast. She hadn't even eaten... Makoto realized he'd sat down with nothing to eat, and went to go get something from the kitchen. He wasn't very hungry, so he just got a banana and some toast for his boyfriend, who had also forgotten to grab something. 

"That's all you're having?" Togami asked when he came back, frowning. Certainly he should eat more than just a fruit for breakfast. 

"Eh, I'm just not very hungry today. Plus, if i get hungry later, I can always just come back down here later." He shrugged, and quickly finished his food. He had a nagging feeling something was wrong though, something was wrong with Sakura today. To prevent any further murders, it'd be best to see what was up now before anything too bad happened. Class Trials were exhausting, after all. "I'm gonna head up to the library, I'll meet you up there, okay?" Naegi gave Byakuya a quick hug before going, although he really wasn't going to the library of course. He was going to check the locker rooms; not that he could actually get in, but if something really did go down in there he would be able to hear an audible struggle through the door. Though on the way there, it was clear Sakura had lied about her location as well, as he could hear her in the gym. The door was opened slightly, and he peered inside. Was she... fighting Monokuma? 

"What are you playing at? Why are you opposing me? This isn't what we agreed on!" Monokuma shouted, and the Assassin raised an eyebrow. Sakura and Monokuma had an agreement? What for? Could she possibly be a spy for the Mastermind? 

"I've decided. I won't turn back. I won't flatter you any longer. I won't look back. I'm going to fight you." She stated in a clear, confident voice. Just what did she think she was doing? She saw what happened when Junko retaliated, so what was she trying to accomplish here? She'd only end up dead. 

"Oh, I see. Well, I just hope you haven't forgotten. I have hostages." Sakura flinched at those words, gritting her teeth. Was he keeping her loved ones hostages? That had to be it, maybe that's what was on her motive DVD. She must be the spy! Though he hadn't really expected it to be her, and he didn't know completely for sure, with what he just witnessed it was a safe bet. He noticed she was about to leave the gym, and not wanting her to know that he'd been spying, he carried on walking to the library as if he'd seen nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

It was only a matter of minutes before Togami met up with Naegi in the library, relieved he was fine. He really shouldn't worry so much, Naegi could clearly defend himself, but he just couldn't help it in a place like this. "Ah, so you are here." he said with a slight smile, and the brunette grinned back. "Yep! Oh, by the way, the fourth floor's opened up! Wanna go check it out?" he asked happily, and Byakuya nodded. "Yes, but first we're changing your bandages." Naegi sighed in response, but went down to the nurses office with him anyways. He sat down on one of the cots, his skirt making it easy to take off the old bandages. The wounds had sealed up, leaving scabbed and scarred marks where the cuts where. Well, at least it had gotten better. The blonde lightly kissed his forehead before getting up to grab some fresh bandages, wrapping the cloth around the scars carefully. "Now don't strain yourself, it'd be a shame if these opened up again." Makoto nodded and stood up, flashing him another grin. "Alright, can we go explore the new floor then?" He asked excitedly, almost like a child. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go." 

The others were already there when they arrived on the fourth floor, all having a look around the new area. The floor consisted of a chemistry lab, faculty lounge, music room, data processing room, and the Principals office. The doors to the data processing room and the Principals office were locked however, so they only had access to three new rooms. Naegi was about to take him back to the music room, as he'd taken piano lessons when he was younger and wanted to see if he still remembered how to play, when they were approached by Kirigiri. "Naegi, may I have a word with you?" Togami frowned, but just told him to meet him in the chemistry lab when he was done talking to her. 

"What is it?" He asked, hoping she didn't want to know anything more about his talent. 

"I found a secret room during my investigations." She replied quietly, and he gasped a little in surprise. "It's on the second floor, in the boys bathrooms. There are no surveillance cameras in there. You'll find a supply closet, but if you go through the back... You'll find the room I'm talking about. Obviously I can't go in there now that the investigation time is over, so I'm counting on you to see what's in there." 

"No security cameras, huh?" He nodded. "Alright, I'll so what I find in there." 

"Good. Thank you, Naegi." 

"No problem! If it'll help us figure out how to escape, I'm all for it." The brunette hurried off to the second floor, wondering what could be in that room. Files on Hopes Peak, maybe? Or perhaps there was something that would tell them how they got here and what happened to the school. Whatever it was, hopefully it would be important. Since Sakura was most likely the spy, did she know about this room as well? He finally reached the bathrooms after jogging down the hallways, and opened the supply closet. It seemed like a normal closet, the secret door was masterfully hidden. Well, what else did he expect from the Mastermind? 

The room was surprisingly large, he had assumed it would small since it was behind the tiny supply closet. Bookshelves lined the walls, and he went to look what was there. "Hopes Peak Academy Student Register?" Makoto mumbled the title of the book out loud before pulling it out to read it. The first thing he saw when he opened the book were the words "You must not leave this place." They sure were intent on keeping the students trapped here, weren't they? He thought for a moment, lost in thought about why they were keeping them here, when he realized too late he wasn't alone. He turned around to see who was there- before taking a swift blow to the head. The world around him spun, and he stumbled backwards, seeing only a quick glance of who it was that had hit him. White jacket... a mask.... everything faded from view as he fell unconscious onto the floor. 

"Hey! You okay?" Naegi heard someone ask him, as he was shaken awake. "Huh....?" He slowly blinked, sitting up, his head aching. He could now tell it was Hagekure who had found him, who looked freaked out and worried for him. "Dude, what happened to you? No one could find you, until I checked the bathrooms, and you were just passed out on the floor!" 

"Nn... Kirigiri told me there was a secret room in here, I was about to read one of the books-" He glanced at the bookshelf, when he realized everything had disappeared. All the books were gone... "Well, they were there before I got knocked out. I wasn't able to tell who it was, but.." he sighed, and pressed a hand against the back of his head where he'd been hit. Thankfully, it wasn't bleeding, but it hurt like hell. In fact, he was even starting to get a little nauseous, like he was going to- He suddenly vomited onto the floor, coughing once it was all out. 

"Gah!" The Fortune Teller yelped and stepped backwards from him, not wanting to get any of that on him. "We need to get you to the Nurses Office! Can you walk?" Naegi stood up, still dizzy, and Hagekure picked him up anyways. "Just try not to throw up while I'm carrying you..." He carefully carried him downstairs to the Nurses Office, and for the second time today, Naegi sat down on the cot. "Alright, just sit tight, I'm gonna go get the others." Yasuhiro said before rushing out, leaving him alone for the moment. He had gotten hit over the head, sure, but why would that make him feel sick? His ears were ringing a bit too, and he decided to lie down. There wasn't any blood, so it couldn't be so bad, right? It wasn't long before he could hear more than see the others enter the room, their worried voices seeming to echo in his mind. 

"Naegi, are you okay?" 

"What happened to you?" 

"Are you hurt?" 

He sat up again and glanced around, nodding. "..... Yeah, I'm fine. I just feel a little sick, that's all." Kyouko frowned at that. 

"Sick? What happened to cause that?" 

Makoto shrugged. "Er... While I was looking in that room you told me about, someone hit me over the head and took all the files and books in there. I don't really remember what happened after that. I don't think it adds up at all, I mean, the headache makes sense, but I feel nauseous too. Hopefully it'll go away soon..." 

"I'm guessing you fell onto the floor after that?" she asked, still looking concerned. 

"Um... Yeah, probably." 

"Hm.... I think you might have gotten a concussion, whether it was from they hit you or when you fell onto the floor. Are your ears ringing? Do you feel dazed? Are you tired?" 

"A concussion?!" Asahina exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do about that?" 

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Togami asked, but stopped talking when he saw Naegi was starting to look confused from everyone talking at once. One of the symptoms of having a concussion was delayed responses feeling as if in a fog, so having everybody asking questions all at once with no time to reply must be confusing for him. It took everyone a few moments to notice this, and they all quieted down. "So... What do we do about a concussion, Kirigiri? Do you know?" Sakura asked, and Kyouko nodded. "There isn't a specific 'cure', but getting some rest somewhere quiet should help him." Byakuya jumped at the chance. "Seems simple enough. I'll take care of him while he's resting." Aoi raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? Er... You sure about that?" 

"Of course I am." he huffed. "Why would I say something I'm unsure of?" 

The swimmer shrugged. "I dunno, I mean, you just don't seem like the type to volunteer to take care of someone." 

"What does it matter to you?" Togami sighed and turned to Naegi. "Anyways, Makoto, would that be fine with you?" It took the boy a moment to respond, before nodding and smiling a little. "Yeah, that's okay with me." Byakuya smiled back, and held out his hand to him, helping him up off the cot. He stumbled a bit, but with the familiar feeling of his arm around his waist he was able to travel safely by foot. Aoi was still confused by this, as it seemed so out of character for him, but she was glad he was being kind to him. Naegi did tell her he had a thing for him, and she would be outraged if Togami broke his heart. Naegi was so soft-hearted, it would almost be a crime to do that to him. Well, in her opinion it would be. "Now let's get you back to your room, okay?" Togami mumbled softly as Naegi leaned on him, and he carefully guided him out of the room. 

"Does it still hurt?" Byakuya asked quietly, frowning in concern when Naegi reached up to clutch his head. 

"... Not really, no." He lied, but of course the blonde could tell that this wasn't the truth. "You don't need to lie so I won't worry about you. I can tell when you're lying anyways, it's just a shame that you feel the need to lie about that." 

"Nn... Sorry, I'd just hate to have you be constantly worried about me, you know? I'll be fine, I've always turned out fine, so there isn't any real need to get worked up over it." 

"But what if this was the time where you didn't come out unscathed? Don't just shrug it off when you get injured, you should care a little more about yourself and your safety, don't you think? I just.... It pains me to see you get hurt like this, Makoto, I can't let this keep happening." 

Naegi could feel Togami's grip on him tighten slightly as he spoke, and he could tell he was being serious. "Oh..." There was a long pause, and they were silent until they reached the personal rooms. "Hey, Byakuya." 

"Hm?" 

"Can I sleep in your room again?" He asked, gazing up at him hopefully. "I mean, last night was really nice, maybe we can sleep together every night...? Only if you're okay with it, of course." 

Togami blinked at that, blushing slightly. "Yes, you can sleep with me again. I found last night to be more comfortable than sleeping alone, anyways." He let go of the boy for a second to unlock his bedroom door, and led him inside. 

"Thanks, I'm really glad I have someone as amazing as you for a boyfriend..." Naegi yawned and lay down on the bed, curling up into a ball. The bedsheets and pillows smelled the same as Togami did, and he found it to be a comforting scent. He quickly fell asleep, and the blonde tucked him in with a gentle smile. "Get better soon, Makoto." He watched him for a bit, making sure he was sleeping peacefully before leaving to get some painkillers. Hopefully the Nurses Office had some, but if he couldn't find it there, he could always check the chemistry lab. 

As he re-entered the Nurses Office, he saw that Kirigiri was still there. "So how is he doing?" She asked, turning to face him. 

"His head still hurts, but he's asleep now." Togami replied, searching through the cupboards. "In case you're going to ask what I'm looking for, it's painkillers, and don't even bother asking what they're for, as that should be obvious." 

"You two sure are close, aren't you?" Kyouko hummed. "I can tell you care for him more than you want to admit." 

"Oh, be quiet." He snapped, but the Detective just chuckled. "It's fine, I already know how you feel towards him. It's actually pretty obvious, I'm not sure why Asahina, Fukawa, Hagekure, and Sakura haven't guessed it yet." She had gotten used to his usually bitter replies, knowing that was just how he normally spoke and that he wasn't going to speak to her any other way. "Whatever. Just keep quiet about it." He muttered quickly, trying to brush it off like it wasn't important. "Why? What, are you afraid someone will get jealous? Though, I suppose with that incident with Genocider Syo you have every right to be concerned about that." 

"Precisely. Me and Makoto are both getting out of here alive, I'm not putting him at risk." He replied with a confident smirk. "Yes, I'll make sure the two of us escape." He left the conversation at that, leaving the Nurses Office to get a glass of water to help Naegi swallow the pills before heading up to his room. The brunette was still fast asleep underneath the red blankets of the bed, still curled up like a cat. Thankfully he didn't seem to be having any nightmares, and was breathing gently and calmly. Togami set the painkillers and the glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed, grabbing the book he'd left there and sitting on the empty space next to Makoto and opening to where he'd last left off.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy almost late Valentines Day!

Naegi's eyes shot wide open as soon as he woke up, thinking he was still lying on the floor of the secret room. He heard the turning of pages, and felt the softness of the mattress beneath him, and remembered that Hagekure had found him and well.... The rest was kind of a blur. He let himself relax, and rubbed his temple. His head didn't hurt nearly as much as it had before, it was nothing more than a dull ache in his skull now, though it was still a nuisance. Togami didn't seem to notice he had woken up, too enveloped in his book to see he was awake. Naegi watched as the blondes eyes scanned to page, slowly moving from side to side. He had such pretty eyes, the perfect shade of icy blue, like precious jewels. Byakuya moved his hand to brush his hair out of his eyes, and Makoto sighed in contentment.

"You really are beautiful, you know that? Even without trying..." He murmured, and Togami turned to look at him. "Oh, you're awake. I brought you some medicine to help with your headache." He didn't seem to have actually processed what Naegi said, he just heard his voice saying something. The brunette sat up and accepted the glass of water and pills that were handed to him, not questioning what they were. He trusted Byakuya not to hurt him, sometimes he felt he trusted him a little too much, but he knew that the blonde trusted him just the same. "Are you feeling any better after sleeping? You've been out for quite a while now."

"Hm...? Oh, yeah, I'm still a little tired though..." He yawned, and the Heir chuckled. "Really? It's at least been an hour. Well, I suppose it's normal to feel fatigued, according to Kirigiri."

"Mhm..." he nodded. "You should nap with me for a while, you're probably tired from... Whatever you've been doing while I've been asleep."

"I've been here the whole time, so I'm not really tired." He shrugged. "But if it'll make you happy, I suppose I can take a break from my book." He took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand along with his book, before lying down and feeling Naegi immediately cuddle right up next to him. The two fit together like puzzle pieces, perfectly and with the satisfying feeling of being complete. "Did you hear what I said earlier?" Naegi whispered, and the blonde shook his head. "No. What was it?" The Assassin giggled at that. "I can't believe you missed it! I told you that you were beautiful, especially your eyes.... You have really pretty eyes... I bet you already knew that, though."

Togami blinked, a slow blush creeping across his face. "Thank you. Um..." He couldn't really think of anything to say, and Naegi laughed again. "...Well, there's no need to talk anyways, right? We are going to sleep after all." To think this was the same Hope Killer he'd been reading about... What an impossible thought that seemed to be now. Naegi buried his face in his chest, hugging him tightly. "Mm... Do you think we'll ever get married?" He mumbled, and the blonde arched a brow at the sudden question. "Where did that come from?"

"...I dunno, I was just thinking about it."

"Well, I should hope that we do. It might not become a reality, but... I guess we'll see."

"Hm... Well, once we get out of here and once we're both at the legal age to get married, you'll be head of the family, right?"

"Perhaps. If it happens that I do become head of the family soon, I will most certainly bend the family rules in our favor. Nobody would be able to stop me from doing so."

"... And then we could get married?"

"Yes, then we could. We could even adopt a kid, and raise them together... Not before going to college, of course." He smiled to himself. "It really would be wonderful to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Mhm... I want to spend my life with you, too. Maybe we can have a little girl... Yeah, that'd be nice..." Togami could tell he was drifting off, and didn't reply and instead just stroked his hair to ease him into sleep. It was strange, already having a little small talk about marriage, when it'd only been a few weeks since they first met. It felt like they'd known each other forever though, like they had been friends before all this and they just didn't remember. In another life, perhaps? They just had to have met somewhere else, there was no other way to explain how quickly they bonded... Unless he was going to use the 'soulmates' excuse, but he didn't think it was something as simple as that. Byakuya shook his head, and decided not to think of such things for now. What mattered was that they were both safe and happy together, that's what mattered to him, at least... He could feel his eyelids starting to get heavy and close, and he soon fell asleep as well.

"Hey, wake up." Again Naegi was shaken awake, unwillingly opening his eyes to see what was going on. "Huh? What is it?" He mumbled, noticing he felt considerably colder from when he'd fallen asleep. He could tell he was no longer curled up next to Byakuya, and was instead by himself in bed. It'd probably been hours, but it didn't feel like very long at all that they'd been snuggling in bed.

"Cmon, I'm sure both of us are starving since we both slept through lunch."

That was true, he was pretty hungry at this point, and he could hear his stomach growl. "Is it dinner already...?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Yes, it is. It's unhealthy for you to eat next to nothing all day, so let's hurry and get something to eat."

Luckily he definitely wasn't as tired as he had been before, and the painkillers were working well, so his head was no longer aching and it wouldn't be for a few hours. He could feel Togami watching him as he got out of bed, making sure he was being careful not to fall. It looked like he had already brushed his hair and straightened out his suit, he looked like he'd never laid down at all. That was too bad, he looked so cute with messy hair.. He didn't say that out loud of course, he didn't want to overwhelm him with flattery and compliments or anything. Yeah, then the effect would wear off, anyways.

Everyone else was already there by the time they got down to the cafeteria, discussing today's findings. "Agh, we couldn't find anything!" Hagekure complained. "Not anything useful, at least."

"There may be clues in the Data Processing Room and the Principal's Office. Those are both locked, however..." Kirigiri sighed. Everyone seemed to be pretty down in the dumps over this...

"If only we had the keys..." Asahina murmured with a frown, and Hagekure grinned. "We just gotta smash our way in, huh? How about that? I bet Sakura could do it!"

The monitor flickered on at that, an angry looking Monokuma appearing onscreen. "Hey! You want to break down the doors to the Principals Office?! What do you think this is, school wars?! I didn't want to be so strict, but it appears I must." Everyone's Student Handbooks beeped at that, and a new rule appeared.

'Rule 12: Breaking down locked doors is prohibited.'

"Now i can rest easy!" Monokuma laughed. "Bye now!" The screen went black once again, and the bear disappeared from sight. 

"Well, I guess that's no longer an option..." Hagekure shook his head sadly. 

"Yes, but if he's going this far to keep us out of there, he must be hiding something in there, right?" Naegi chimed in, trying to be optimistic as usual. 

"Yeah!" Asahina cheered. "Plus, we still have Alter Ego, right? Maybe it knows a way to get us in there!"

"R-right..." Fukawa muttered. "W-well, let's go ask it now! The s-sooner the better..."

"Naegi and I are eating before we do anything," Byakuya sighed and guided Makoto to the seat across from Asahina where he usually sat, before quickly walking to the kitchen to avoid anyone asking him why they hadn't shown up to lunch that afternoon.

"Sooo, what were you up to while you were gone, huh?" Asahina asked jokingly, wiggling her eyebrows. Naegi laughed at that, shaking his head. "Not anything like you're thinking! I was sleeping the entire time, actually!"

"Really? That's a long time to be asleep!" She giggled. "That whole ordeal must've really drained the energy out of you!"

"Haha, yeah, but I'm fine now!"

"I would hope so!" She replied cheerily as Togami set down a tray of typical dinner foods, including corn on the cob, chicken, and mashed potatoes. Naegi ate pretty quickly, as he was extremely hungry, and he knew that the others were waiting on him and Byakuya to finish eating so they could go check up on Alter Ego.

As soon as they finished, Kirigiri led the group to the bathhouse, and took out the laptop.

"I'm glad you're all here!" the AI chimed happily. "I've managed to decrypt the files!" The students cheered happily at that. Yes, there was hope!

"Way to go!"

'What facts have you discovered by looking at those files?' The detective typed, and Alter Ego frowned. "Well... Apparently there was a plan being carried out at this school. A plan to confine highschoolers here at Hopes Peak and have them live together. Also, depending on how things went, those confined may have had to spend their entire lives here."

Togami rolled his eyes. "That's the exact situation we're in right now, is it not?"

"And it seems that Hopes Peak came up with that idea themselves." It continued. The plan was drawn up because of an event that happened a year ago,'The Biggest and Baddest Despair-ridden Incident in Human History'." Well, that certainly was one hell of a title. "Because of this event, the Academy was on the brink of closure, which is why this plan was born. The person in charge of this plan... Was the Principal of Hopes Peak. He was in his late thirties, there's a chance he's still within this school."

"The principal must be the one controlling Monokuma!" Hagekure exclaimed, and Kirigiri hung her head.

"....I'll go look for the Principal." She said quietly but with a determined tone. "I'll find him no matter what. I promise."

There was a long pause before the AI spoke again. "I was also able to retrieve this from the data:"

A picture of Celeste, Sayaka, and Yamada appeared onscreen. What was with all these pictures? Before anyone could react, Monokuma's voice sounded over the speaker system. "This is a PA announcement! Assemble in the gym immediately!" With a sigh, everyone gathered in the gym to see what the bear wanted this time.

"I have some sad news. One of you is an agent of mine." Naegi perked up at that. An agent? That's right, Sakura was fighting with Monokuma earlier, it just had to be her! Especially since he was announcing this after they'd fought. It was no coincidence, right?

"An a-agent?!" Asahina exclaimed, horrified. 

"Well, that figures." Togami said, unimpressed. "Looks like I was right on the money about that."

"Wh-who is the agent?!" Fukawa stammered, and Monokuma laughed. "No need to panic. I'll fill you in." Was he really about to tell them, just like that? No, he wouldn't due that, would he? "The agent is... Sakura Ohgami!"

Naegi blinked. He.. he had been right! Not that it mattered, but he did like being right, it felt good. "What are you talking about?! There's no way that's true! Right, Sakura?" Aoi yelled. She had every right to be upset, but Makoto felt himself feeling a bit annoyed at this anyways. She really just needed to accept the truth already... Was this how they'd react if they found out he was an Assassin? He didn't want to think about it.

Sakura didn't say a word, she didn't even look at the Swimmer, and Monokuma laughed despite the students distress. "Well, that was all! Feel free to do as you please!"


	12. Chapter 12

"...Sakura?" Asahina managed to get the words out, her voice wavering. She sounded like she was going to cry... "I'm sorry I kept it to myself," the Martial Artist replied quietly, and Hagekure gasped. "S-so you really are working for the Mastermind?!" Of course, Aoi flew into defense mode at this. "That's not true! She was probably being used!" 

To everyone's surprise, it was Naegi who rolled his eyes at this. "Whether she was being used or not doesn't really matter, does it? Either way she's working for the Mastermind. Though I do agree that she wasn't willingly working for them, I saw her fighting with Monokuma earlier today. He claimed to have hostages, so obviously they've been blackmailing her. Nevertheless, she's not on our side." He sounded so... Cold. Maybe all this was really getting to him, or perhaps his darker side was starting to show through?

"Really? And you didn't tell anyone because...?" Kirigiri raised an eyebrow, and the brunette shrugged. "I was waiting for it to be relevant to bring it up. Plus, I was preoccupied with that whole 'secret room' situation. Anyhow, it was only this morning, so it's not like I've been hiding it for a long time. In fact if you'd asked me if I thought anyone here was a traitor, I'd tell you exactly that. But no one was concerned with that were they?" She had to admit he had a good point, but still... 

"So you heard all that..." Sakura mumbled, and the Assassin nodded. "But... she's betrayed the Mastermind now, right? So there's no reason to worry!" Asahina was trying her best to defend, but that was scoffed at. "This is ridiculous," Togami sighed. "What, have you been living in some kind of fantasy world this entire time? Ohgami, if you've truly betrayed the Mastermind, then answer me this: Who is it?" There was a pause, before she shook her head. "Unfortunately, I don't know either." 

"Hmph! You're only making yourself look more and more suspicious. Alright, if you really can't answer something as simple as who it is you're working for, then could you at least tell us what they ordered you to do?" 

"Fine. If the school life became too boring and stagnant with no murders, then I was to kill someone." 

"I see. That would mean you're still after our lives, correct?" 

Asahina, of course, shouted that this wasn't true at all, and Naegi was about to retort when Sakura spoke first. "There's no reason to be at each other's throats over me. This is my responsibility. Asahina, forgive me. I've thought about telling just you many times, but... I was afraid. I was afraid you'd hate me for it." 

"Sakura, I would never-" She began to say, but the other turned away. "Forgive me. I'll take care of him, even if it kills me." 

"Even if it kills you?!" She stammered as Ohgami left the gym, and Naegi finally spoke again. "Well, we'd better watch out from now on. Who knows what she could be capable of?" Togami nodded in agreement at that, and surprisingly, Hagekure did as well. "I hate to say it, but he's right." 

"S-she is working for the M-mastermind, after all." Fukawa chimed in, as she hadn't spoken for the majority of the discussion. "Why can't you understand Sakura?!" Aoi yelled. 

"What do you actually know about her anyways, Asahina? How do you know she hasn't been deceiving you?" Togami replied coolly, eyeing Naegi as he spoke. This situation was not unlike the one Makoto had been in not too long ago, though it was just him that found out and not the entirety of the remaining students. "You had no idea what her true initiative was up until now, who knows what she could be hiding from you?" 

"But what is worst comes to worst?! What if she dies because of this?!" 

"That just means the Mastermind loses one of their henchman. It would be no big deal, honestly." 

"You... You monster!" In a single quick movement, Aoi had slapped him quite hard across the face, knocking his glasses to the floor. "You're the one who should die!" And at that, the blonde smiled. "If you want to try and kill me, go right ahead. That's how this game works, is it not? Go on, I'd like to see you try. At least then your precious Sakura won't have to kill anybody for now, right?" 

"You think I won't-" She stopped speaking when she felt eyes watching her. Of course, the gym had a few other students, but this was... This couldn't be normal. She glanced over to see who was staring at her... And found it to be none other than Makoto Naegi. Now normally he wasn't intimidating in the slightest: Short, generally kind, not extraordinarily strong. But the look in his eyes sent chills down her spine. He had his hand in his pocket too, which was odd since he almost never did. He smiled when they made eye contact too... Not the smile she'd seen om him before, but the kind of smile that filled any sane human being with dread. Was anyone else seeing this...? 

She was forced to look away when she heard Fukawa shouting at her. "How dare you?! You deserve not one, but a m-million deaths for striking Byakuya!" 

"Cut it out." Kirigiri spoke calmly, though her voice was raised. "Keep fighting like this, and you'll be doing exactly what the Mastermind wants." Asahina lowered her head, as this was true. Killing Byakuya would be exactly what the Mastermind wanted, wouldn't it? "...I'm going back to my room." She murmured quietly, before leaving the gym in silence. Togami picked his glasses up off the floor before anyone stepped on them, and was about to leave when the Detective stopped him. "You make light of peoples emotions quite a bit." 

"And what about it?" 

"Here's a word of warning for you. If you keep that up, you're going to regret it." 

"I'll take that warning in one ear and right out the other." 

Before Kyouko could reply, Monokuma's voice once again played over the speakers."This is a PA announcement! It is now 10 pm, so we will now be entering the Night Hours." And with that, the blonde left the gym with a smirk, followed quickly by Makoto, who quickly fell into step beside him. "What did Kirigiri say to you?" The brunette asked, and he shrugged. "She told me I was going to regret speaking the harsh truth. Not important, really. Anyways, you were acting... different towards the others today. You consider them your friends, do you not?" 

"Well, yeah, but it was clear that Sakura could no longer be trusted. I don't know why it took some of them so long to understand. Though, in Asahina's case I guess I can cut her some slack since Ohgami is her best friend. She didn't react as well as you did when you found out my secret, haha! Anyhow... For her own good, I just hope that Aoi doesn't 'try anything'. Especially since she pretty much threatened to kill you." 

"Don't worry about her, even if she tried to, I could take her down." He reassured, and ruffled his hair. Naegi smiled, but decided he was going to keep a close eye on both Ohgami and Aoi, just to be safe. Not to mention he still was a bit paranoid about Genocider Syo at times. So really, the only other people he could maybe trust were Kyouko Kirigiri and Yasuhiro Hagekure, though Kirigiri was probably still investigating him, especially now that he'd acted like that in front of everyone. So just Hagekure, huh? He was pretty harmless... 

They soon reached Togami's room, and at this point he just assumed that they were sleeping together from here on out. Togami assumed this as well, and let him into his room. He honestly wasn't tired, but there was nothing else to do other than read, so he brushed his teeth and got in bed anyways, Naegi doing the same after quickly moving his personal belongings to the Heirs room. Thankfully, in that short transition time, nothing worth taking note of happened. However, what had happened in the gym with Sakura had made him a little paranoid... "Togami, where did you put that file on me anyways? Is it somewhere in here?" The blonde nodded from the bathroom where he was getting ready for bed. "Yes, it should be in one of the dresser drawers. Why do you ask?" Naegi frowned as he searched the drawers. "It's not there... Are you sure you put in in here?" He looked through again and again, yet he found nothing... "Yes, I'm sure that's where I put it. Is it missing?" 

"Yeah, I can't find it anywhere..." 

"Hm... It has to be somewhere out in the school, then. We'll look for it in the morning. It's too dangerous to go outside right now." 

"Alright, fine." Naegi agreed, though he was crossing his fingers behind his back. There was no way that he was going to let what happened to Ohgami happen to him! Sure, he couldn't really trust most people here, but they had yet to find a real reason to distrust him, and of course he'd want to keep his reputation good. After all, preventing them from finding out would also come of use in Trials, as due to his aforementioned good reputation he was almost never accused of anything, if you don't count the murder of Sayaka Maizono. Yes, if he could just keep this up... 

He got into bed, but made sure not to get too comfortable, as he wouldn't be there for very long. He felt the Heirs body press against his from behind, hugging him close. Now he was seriously doubting that he was going to be able to leave for a while... Well, if things stayed as they were now he supposed he didn't mind waiting. It wasn't too long after that he could hear him snoring quietly, and Makoto slowly moved his arms out of the way and climbed out of bed, doing his best not to wake him. Thankfully it worked, and Togami was still fast asleep as he left the room, making sure not to forget the keys to his own room. His room was exactly how he'd left it, with tools he hadn't bothered to clean up messily scattered about. There was a flashlight lying on the floor, which he picked up along with some pepper-spray. Safety first, right? If he was caught in a bad situation, he could get away without causing too much ruckus and no fatalities. Of course if he happened to miss their eyes when he sprayed, there was always his knife. He got up, but hesitated before leaving his room. Was this really such a good idea? He could easily run into a jealous Genocider Syo again, and obviously that would be no good considering he almost lost last time, not to mention he might get a dizzy spell while fighting from his concussion. No, he had to do this. He had to find it, otherwise he would end up like Sakura. With no further doubt in his mind, he turned on his flashlight and stepped into the dark hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	13. Chapter 13

The hallways were completely silent other than the sound of his footsteps, as he shone his flashlight around the darkness. His first stop was the library, more specifically the room with the police files. Maybe Monokuma had put it back or something? Admittedly that wasn't a very plausible, but that was probably the best possibility, the only other one he could think of was that one of the students had found it. How could they have stolen it, though? He was sure Togami always kept his doors locked, so how could they have gotten their hands on it? Well, either way no one had said anything about it, but that didn't mean they weren't planning on doing something about it. This thought caused him to start walking faster, until he finally reached the library. The door opened with a loud creak, and he cringed at the sound. Not that it was loud enough to wake anyone up, but still... He briefly glanced at the library shelves, eyes scanning over the different books. A lot of them, unsurprisingly, had some sort of murder-mystery theme. Nope, not there...

He soon entered the smaller archive, and closed the door behind him. Other than his flashlight, the room was pitch black. Let's see, what other files were in here...? There seemed to be a folder for every student that was involved in this game, except the folder for Junko was completely empty... He guessed that she'd just never broken the law before, which wasn't too much of a surprise for him. She was a model after all, and she didn't seem like the type to do any gambling or things of the sort. Most of the other folders were pretty barren as well, a lot of them just containing one or two papers on minor crimes, or just any other involvement with the police. The thickest one, besides his own, was Celeste's, which was full of reports on her underground gambling. There was only one paper for Togami, which was about how he got lost on his way home from school once as a child and his parents had to call the police to go find him. Naegi laughed a little at that, as he'd expected something much worse from the guy who messed with a crime scene to 'make things more interesting'. He found a few on some students he'd never met and weren't here as well, like someone named Hiyoko Saionji, who was the Super High School Level Traditional Dancer, or boy named Hajime Hinata, who was simply a reserve course student. Wait, that name did sound a little familiar... Where had he heard about Hajime? It clicked in his mind when he read the next name: Nagito Komaeda.

Makoto had worked with Komaeda on the job a few times, though he never understood why someone as rich as him would ever want to be an assassin. He had won the lottery, for gods sake! But nevertheless, whenever he knew he couldn't complete the job on his own, Nagito was the first person he looked to for help. He remembered that the boy tended to talk about this 'Hajime Hinata' a lot, though he never payed much attention to his ramblings to be completely honest. Though he did remember the time Komaeda had told him about being accepted to Hopes Peak for being the 'Super High School Level Luck', which is where he'd gotten the idea for his cover-up talent. Opening the folder and looking at his picture for the first time in who knows how long, he remembered he used to think that he was cute. Well, he still did, just not in the same sense as before. He looked so innocent in his pictures, too, like he'd never been through any of that trauma, like he was still a kid. He really shouldn't be surprised, as he too was able to act like he was completely clean. He actually missed him a little, despite how... 'strange' he was. He wondered how he was doing for a brief moment...

Naegi realized how long he'd been sitting there, and shook his head, hastily putting the picture into his pocket. It's not like he had any pictures of his family, so having one of an old friend was the next best thing. His police file didn't seem to be here... Well, the archive was a bust. So what now? Where else could there be to check? Maybe whoever took it had dropped it somewhere? Well, it couldn't hurt to check, he supposed. The cafeteria was locked, he couldn't check there, and so was the incinerator room, so those were out of the question. If only he'd known how long it had been gone, then he could at least narrow down what floor it might be on. With a sigh, he left the room behind and decided to just head back for now. There was just too much ground to cover, and he was beginning to think it was unlikely that he'd find it, and even more unlikely that whoever took it had just carelessly dropped it without noticing. Yeah, this was a dumb idea. He should just go home- 

Wait, was he starting to think of that room as home? He did kind of live there now but... What about his sister and parents and his house in the suburbs, was that no longer his home? Perhaps he just considered this place his 'temporary home' more than the prison the Mastermind had made it to be. A home full of deceit and despair, sure, but a home nonetheless. He was about to leave, but he was interested in these other files. Just who were these people? As for the people he already knew, what has they done? With a sigh, he ended up emptying out most of the folders and hiding the papers in his jacket. He finally left after that, trying to be as quiet as possible, which was hard because the papers would rustle whenever he moved the arm he was holding them with. Though in the near complete silence of the hallway, he began to hear someone else. They were nowhere near him, but they were calling out for someone, he couldn't tell who because of the distance but it sounded like it was coming from downstairs.... He moved towards the voice carefully until he could hear what they were saying. 

"Where are you? Makoto?" It was Byakuya! Which meant... Damn it, he'd woken up! 

"Over here!" He called back, and started to quickly walk to where he was. The blonde looked worried sick.... 

"There you are!" He sighed in relief and pulled the brunette into a hug. "Don't just go running off like that, especially at this time of night, idiot! Someone could've hurt you again!" 

Naegi didn't reply, he just hugged back. He really was concerned for him... That thought caused him to hug him tighter. What ever did he do to deserve someone as amazing as he was? A criminal like himself honestly didn't deserve such affection.... Which is when he realized: It wasn't this place he considered home, that wasn't it at all. He considered being with Togami home now, where he truly belonged and where he always wanted to be. He just stayed there for a moment, taking in the warmth of the hug, before the Heir pulled away. "Lets head back to the room, it'd be foolish to just keep standing here..." He muttered. Now that the overall relief of finding Naegi safe had worn off, he seemed to be angry with him. Which was understandable, as he'd just taken off in the middle of the night without warning, for a stupid reason too. Honestly, he should've known he wasn't going to find it. He was just lucky he didn't run into anyone. Byakuya didn't say another word as they walked back to his room, his arms folded across his chest. 

"Look Togami, I uh, I'm sorry I did that. I should've at least told you where I was going." Again, he got no reply, his boyfriend just sighed and got back in bed. Had that really upset him that much? 

"..... You seriously need to cut that out." 

"What?" 

"You keep putting yourself in danger, even if it is unintentional. You are the Super High School Level Assassin, yes, but in your condition right now you wouldn't be able to handle another attack." 

"You're underestimating me! I've been through much worse, and I turned out fine, so now wouldn't be any different." 

"Is keeping yourself safe too much to ask of you?" 

"... Let's just call it a day, alright?" 

"Whatever." 

Makoto frowned and got into bed next to him after setting the papers and his picture of Nagito on the dresser, falling into an uneasy sleep. Byakuya still seemed pretty pissed off, as he had his back turned to him as he slept. Guess he isn't in the mood to cuddle... Well, at least he'd got something done today other than getting Asahina mad at everyone. At least...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ x2


	14. Chapter 14

Makoto woke up in a cold sweat and a pounding heart, as if he'd woken up from a nightmare he couldn't remember. Weird... It seemed Togami had woken up before him this time, as he could hear the shower being used. He was probably still angry with him, so maybe he should just go to breakfast by himself. Actually, that was probably the worst he could do, considering that it was because he kept running off into what Byakuya perceived as danger that he'd gotten upset with him. Plus he now knew someone had his file, whether it was another student or the Mastermind themself. If a student had found it, they could be after him because they think he's dangerous. Honestly it wouldn't make much sense for the Mastermind to take it, as someone finding out would certainly make things more interesting. So it must be one of the other students.... Kirigiri seemed the most likely to have found it, but she hadn't confronted him about it like she had before when she suspected him of attacking Syo, so maybe not... 

Maybe he shouldn't be obsessing over this. Whoever had it didn't seem to intend on doing anything with it, so maybe it was best just to keep it off his mind. He had other things to worry about anyways, like the laundry he still needed to do and Sakura being the agent. She liked to work out, didn't she? Maybe he should stop by the exercise room for a bit today, getting in shape couldn't hurt. Swimming wasn't a good idea, as his legs hadn't completely healed yet and it would be awful if those cuts opened up in the pool. He doubted that would actually happen, but still... He decided to get dressed while Togami was still showering, adding his dirty clothes to the ever growing pile of laundry. Yeah, he definitely needed to do that today. He heard the shower turn off, and he sat down on the bed facing away from the bathroom to give him some privacy. "Good morning, Byakuya." He felt Togami briefly place his hands on his shoulders and kiss the top of his head, and he smiled despite his previous worries. "Good morning, Makoto." He wasn't angry anymore? Well, thankfully that meant it wasn't going to be an awkward morning between them. Just to make sure, though... 

"Hey, you're not mad at me, are you?" 

"Admittedly, I'm still a little upset with you, but it's fine. I trust you won't do it again." 

"I won't! I get why I shouldn't have done that, and I-" 

"Just tell me where you're going next time, alright? I won't always be with you, I just want to know where you are in case something happens. That way I'll at least know where to look." 

"Same goes for you! If you're going to wander off on your own, I want to know where to find you." 

"Don't worry, I will." 

Naegi no longer heard the rustling of clothing, and turned around, assuming the blonde had finished getting dressed. "Oh, by the way, instead of going to breakfast today I'm going to do the laundry. You know, better to do it now then to run out of clean clothes." 

A smile tugged at the corners of the Heirs lips. "See? It's that simple. Alright, well, make sure you get something to eat after that. 'Breakfast is the most important meal of the day', as I've heard some phrase it. If you need me, I'll either be in the cafeteria or the music room." He kissed the brunette goodbye, before leaving the room. Naegi smiled to himself. They sure had it easy, didn't they? Asahina and Sakura's relationship must be in a rough spot right now, and as indifferent as he would normally be he hoped they patched things up soon. Now that he himself was in a relationship, he knew it would really suck to be in their position, and how painful it would be to find out that your loved one is working for a psychopath. 

Well, he couldn't just sit here forever. He got up and picked up their dirty clothes, doing his best not to drop any as he carried them to the laundry room. He almost regretted doing this, as sorting darks, lights, and whites had to be one of the most boring things he'd done here so far. At least it wasn't anything dangerous, though the adrenaline rush he got from taking risks was far more pleasant than washing dirty clothes. With a sigh, he finished sorting them, and put the white clothing in the washing machine first. There weren't as many of those as there were darks and lights, so they would wash quicker. He leaned against the machine as he waited for it to get done, and he heard the clicking of heels as someone else entered the room. He looked to see who it was. 

"Oh, hey Kirigiri! How are you?" He asked in a cheerful voice, glad there was someone to entertain him now while he did this chore. 

"I'm fine." She replied, not returning the question. "So, Naegi, what do you think of all this?" 

"What, about Sakura being a spy? I guess I was surprised that she of all people would work for the Mastermind, but I guess she is abnormally strong, so they would want someone with that kind if strength on their side." He shrugged. "Why do you ask?" 

"I just wanted to see what's going through the mind of someone like you, though I assume you're not to tell me the truth most of the time when you're talking to us, are you? Actually, I expected you to be the spy." She hummed, and Makoto frowned. 

"What reason would I have to lie? Especially about something as simple as my opinion on our situation." 

"If you spoke your real thoughts, I bet the other students would be shocked, wouldn't they? Well maybe not Fukawa, you two have similar tendencies. You wouldn't want to lose their trust, so you fake what you say. You fake your sympathy, and your fear most of the time as well." 

"Are you comparing me to a serial killer?" He absolutely hated being compared to a murderer of that sort. Not because he disliked Fukawa or anything, but usually serial killers didn't have a very good reason for murder, so when someone called him that it really ticked him off. The washing machine stopped, and he loaded the white clothes into the dryer and put in the lights next while he listened to her reply. 

"Look, you already know I'm suspicious of you. That shouldn't be a surprise. However, during investigation time when Ishimaru and Yamada were killed, I had a look inside your room to make sure you weren't the culprit. Do pardon my intrusion, it was for investigative purposes only. My assumption about you being innocent in this case was correct, though if your talent is really luck, that wouldn't explain the way the Mastermind set up your room." She explained, and though she was quite pleased with herself she kept her usual stoic expression. "Being 'lucky' in no way involves having such an assortment of weaponry, and I know that you couldn't have just gathered all that from around the school, as someone would've seen you dragging one of the heavier items up at least once." 

How was he supposed to counter that? "How should I know why that was there? Maybe the Mastermind thought I'd be the first to want out of here, or-" 

"That's not how the rest of the rooms are. If you're truly just another student at Hopes Peak like the rest of us, your room would be customized to suit the needs or your specific talent. If that is not the case, I would assume you're not actually a student here, you would be some outside force. Either way, both make you untrustworthy." She crossed her arms, and looked to see his reaction to this. Was he about to storm off again, like he had last time? No, instead of looking angry this time, he managed to keep an expressionless appearance as he continued to now silently load the washer and dryer once again. "No response? Should I take that as a sign that I'm right?" 

"Kirigiri. You're a detective, so maybe this would be hard for you to understand, but some things are better left a secret, okay?" He muttered, sighing heavily. "And anyways, even if you did find some 'dark secret' on me, what are you going to do with it, hm? Sure, my reputation will be... Ruined after that, but will it even benefit you? What's the point if nothing good will come from it?" 

"I'd tell everyone else about it, of course. To keep them safe. If you're dangerous, they need to know that so that they can steer clear of you if they feel that you might harm them. It's as simple as that. It may not directly benefit me, but I'd say it's for the good of everyone else." She replied coolly. 

Great, she was playing 'lawful good' in a place like this? Even in a kill-or-be-killed situation she was still going to try and be the good guy, huh? How ridiculous. She should know by now that there wasn't a 'greater good' anymore. Everyone here had a motive for murder, everyone here had the supplies needed for murder, so really none of them were free of those thoughts of killing to escape. None of them were truly good. No matter how she tried to prevent death, it was going to happen anyways. She could change the fact that they were trapped with one way out, and that was that. And just when he thought that they might be friends after that whole secret room incident, too. 

"Well, Kyouko, tell me when you find some solid proof. Maybe then I'll listen to your ridiculous accusations." He took the last load of dry clothes from the dryer. "Or perhaps you could focus in making some friends. It's better to have allies than to just be a loner such as yourself." The Detective was scowling as he left the room, but didn't reply. Ha, he'd gotten her there, huh? Hopefully she'd actually listen to what he said and go befriend someone, even if it is just to decrease her chances of getting killed. As much as she kept pestering him and threatening to expose him, he knew they would make good friends after this all passed. If it did pass, that is. Well it couldn't last forever, right? Even if it ended because the power ran out, it had to end at some point, as all things did. 

He reached the room after a short walk, folding the clothes and putting them back in their drawers. He wasn't the best at folding, and most of them weren't even close to being neat, but it would do for now. It's not like nicely folded clothes were necessary anyways. Where did Togami say he'd be? The music room? He'd go check there after he got something to eat. Maybe he could remember how to play the piano, though those lessons had been from years ago and he'd only actually played maybe 2 songs. Still, it couldn't hurt to try. It would almost be like a date for the two of them! 

It was hard to plan any dates, as they couldn't go anywhere outside of the school, and with everyone else roaming around its not like there were any private spaces besides their bedrooms. There weren't many people left, and although it was a grim reality at least they had a lower chance of being interrupted. Was it too cold of him to think like that? He had been in that sort of mindset ever since he began his job, death being just another chore for him and not taking it as seriously as he probably should. Chore wasn't really the right word now, since he wasn't the one doing the killing anymore. It was more like.... Some drama at school, the kind he just blocked out because he didn't care. He felt sympathy for those who'd lost friends here, but truly caring was a bit hard for him since he hardly knew them. So what, Kyouko had been right about him faking that, but its not like anyone else could see through that. They might if they looked too close, but... He was seen as trustworthy by most, so they probably weren't going to examine him enough to figure that out. 

Admittedly he was worried that Kirigiri might actually act on her suspicions, but he tried not to focus on that for now. He wasn't going to be able to stop her anyways, so what would be the point of dwelling on it? He locked the door behind him as he headed down to the kitchen, glancing behind him every once and a while to make sure no one was following him. He didn't want anyone following him to his date with Byakuya... He giggled a bit to himself. A date, he was finally going on a date!


	15. Chapter 15

Togami sat with his fingers hovering over the piano keys, not sure if he could even play. Before he could get himself to try however, he felt two arms wrap around his middle and a kiss on the cheek. "Hello, Naegi." He whispered with a chuckle, already knowing it was him. He heard Naegi giggle, and the boy buried his face in the crook of his neck. "So? Was that worth skipping breakfast for?" He asked, and the brunette shrugged. "Eh, it was boring, but I guess I don't have to worry about it anymore. I also talked with Kyouko, um... She found those weapons in my room, so she's getting suspicious again." Byakuya hummed and turned in his seat to face him, bringing him closer. "Don't you worry about her. Even if she does expose you, you'll still have me. No matter what happens, you'll always have me." The blonde gave him a light kiss on the nose, and Makoto smiled gently at him. "Thank you, Byakuya." 

Naegi sat down next to him at the piano, observing the keys. He was starting to remember a few of them... "Do you remember how to play?" The brunette asked, and the boy next to him shrugged. "I think I remember a little bit, not much though... If they had a viola around here I could play that, as that's what I played in school, but I don't think there is..." 

"Yeah, same here... But we can try, right?" He wasn't going to let a bit of uncertainty ruin his 'date'. 

"Right. I suppose we should start with something simple, do you remember The London Bridge Is Falling Down?" 

"I think so. Alright, so I'll play it on the lower keys, you play on the higher keys, and we'll see how it sounds!" 

It didn't sound too horrible, though both of them had messed up a few times here and there. It felt like it'd been years... Either way, it was fun, as good or bad as it may have sounded. Their hands kept bumping into one another, and most of the time they were too busy laughing and giggling at the others mistakes to play it right. Eventually they managed to get through the whole thing without error, not that either of them cared much. "Do you think there's any sheet music around here?" Makoto asked, glancing around the room. 

"I don't know, it seems there isn't anything in here but perhaps there's a music book in the library?" 

"Yeah, maybe." He sighed in contentment and leaned on his partner. "....Let's not go look for that right now, though." He'd rather just stay here, and maybe listen to Togami play for a while. That sounded nice... "Hey, do you think you could play something for me?" 

"Hm? I could hardly play London Bridge without screwing up, I don't know how you expect me to play another. But...." He once again placed his fingers over the keys. "I'll try, if that's what you want. What would you like to hear?" 

"Anything is fine, really, it doesn't even have to be a song. Or if you don't want to play the piano, I'd like to hear you sing, even if it's just a little." 

"You want to hear me sing?" Togami raised an eyebrow at that. He found it hard to believe he would sound good singing, in fact even when he was alone he rarely sang, and when he did it was usually along to the radio so he couldn't really hear himself. 

The brunette nodded. "Mhm, I mean your talking voice is already enjoyable to listen to as it is, I'm sure your singing voice is lovely." Byakuya's cheeks tinted pink at the word 'lovely', pulling away from the piano. He always did know what to say to make him blush, didn't he... 

"Alright, alright...." He took a deep breath. Honestly, he shouldn't be so nervous, it was just his boyfriend after all... After a few seconds he finally managed to start, and he got out the first few lines of a catchy pop song he'd heard on the radio a while back. He was surprised he even remembered the words, it had to have been at least a year ago. Makoto closed his eyes and smiled as he listened, making circles with his thumb on the back of the blondes hand. He could tell that he was embarrassed, but he wanted him to become more comfortable with these kinds of things. Normal things that he probably didn't get to do, considering his (probably) busy before Hopes Peak. He had been right in that his voice was, well, music to his ears, and he got that fuzzy feeling in his chest again. A feeling somewhere along the lines of satisfaction and joy, though that couldn't even begin to describe it. "See? I told you you'd sound great!" He hummed cheerfully when he had finished, and Togami crossed his arms. 

"Well, you'd better have listened closely, because I'm never doing that again." 

Naegi frowned at that. "Oh, come on, you were really good!" 

Still, he shook his head. "No way." 

"Fine, whatever, but you really should sing more often." 

"Yeah yeah. Don't count on it." He just shrugged off the suggestion. Oh well, he'd gotten to hear it once at least... He felt Togami's hand ruffle his hair, and the Heir rose from his seat. Ah, it looked like their date was over. It had been fun while it lasted, but he was disappointed that it was over. What now? He supposed he could go work, but he wasn't really in the mood... There was swimming, too, but he'd just end up feeling paranoid about someone drowning him, as he couldn't hold his breath for very long. What else... "Shall we go?" His lovers voice broke his train of thought, and he stood up and nodded. "Yeah, let's go." They walked off the stage together, and it seemed Byakuya had been thinking about what to do next as well. "Perhaps we should talk to Sakura? I get the feeling she's still hiding something." 

"It could be interesting, though I doubt we'd get anything out of her. I guess we should still see if we can anyways, though." He agreed. "I think we should check downstairs first, as neither of us would be able to check the Girls Locker Rooms. Otherwise I'd say she'd be there..." Togami nodded, and the two made their way downstairs, the halls eerily quiet. The silence was suddenly broken by a scream from the bottom floor, and though it was distant as they were up one level, they could still hear it clearly. It sounded like Hagakure... On instinct, Makoto broke out into a sprint, hoping to prevent another Class Trial. 

Everyone had made quite the scene by the time Makoto got there. Genocider Syo had taken control again, and it appeared she had attacked Asahina, who was on the ground and had a few cuts, the sleeves of her jacket torn. Hagakure had hidden under the table, which was idiotic considering he could've just run away. "What's going on here?" he asked the Fortune Teller, and he managed to chatter out a response. "Fukawa and Asahina started fighting!" He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at that. Well duh, that was obvious already! "Hey, you unattractive boys over there," Syo growled, her neck cracking as she turned her head towards them. "Get this woman outta here, will ya? If you don't, then SLICE AND DICE, SLICE AND DICE! I'll be up on cloud nine!" Naegi calmly walked over to Aoi, glaring at the Serial Killer as he did so. "Asahina, you should get to the Nurses Office now. Hagakure, give us a hand." The Swimmer was scowling and looked like she was ready to kill Fukawa, though of course she was too injured to do so at this point, plus she didn't stand a chance even if she were unharmed anyways. Byakuya had taken his time getting here, and was just now entering the Cafeteria. Of course, as soon as he saw Genocider was there as well he quickly left before she could see him. That was understandable, he supposed, and it didn't really matter anyways since the situation appeared to be under control now. 

Hagakure and Naegi led her to the Nurses Office to get her patched up, though she wasn't hurt all that badly. Just a few scratches on her arm, none of them being very deep. "You should be glad that you didn't get wounded worse than this," The Assassin muttered as he helped bandage her arm. "It wasn't very smart of you to pick a fight with someone like her. And why didn't you call for help? You would have been done for if Hagakure hadn't screamed." 

"You didn't call for help either when you two fought!" She retorted, pulling her jacket back on. 

"Well I was the one winning the fight last time, I was in a position where I could have taken her down for good. You, on the other hand..." He paused to put the bandages away. "You most certainly would've died. Why were you two fighting anyways, huh? Was it because you slapped Byakuya? I can see her going after you for something like that, I suppose..." 

"No, that wasn't it. We had an argument about Sakura. I mean... I mean she bitched about my best friend--" It was in that moment that, speak of the devil, Sakura burst in through the door. 

"Asahina! What happened?" She immediately asked. "How did you get that wound?" The Martial Artist looked terrified, guilty, even. 

"Don't worry! It's not a big deal!" Aoi reassured, but even so, Sakura glared around the room. Hagakure freaked out of course when their gazes met, and he fearfully took a step back. 

"I-it wasn't me! It was Genocider! The crazy serial killer did it!" 

"She tried to harm Asahina instead of me?!" Sakura was at the breaking point now, ready to go after Genocider for hurting her friend. "How could this be...? HOW COULD THIS BE?!" At the sound of her shouting, Hagakure fled the room, "I WON'T.... I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!" Naegi was about to leave as well, but he ran into someone on the way out. 

"What's all this ruckus about?" The Detective asked, but got no reply. Instead, Ohgami left the room, only saying she was going to 'settle things'. Asahina chased after her, but Makoto knew that wasn't going to stop her. Was she going to kill Touko for this? He doubted it, she wasn't the type to play right into the Masterminds hands like that. It looked like things weren't going to turn out well either way, but he decided against following them, as that might just upset Sakura more. He'd better go check on Genocider to make sure she hadn't caused any more trouble- 

"Naegi, what happened here?" Kirigiri asked, stopping him before he could leave. 

"Huh? Oh, well Genocider and Asahina got in a fight over Sakura, so she's obviously angry with Syo for hurting her friend. That's all I know." He replied, and she nodded. 

"If you say so," Kyouko sighed. "By the way, where in this school do you think there might be network connectivity?" 

"What, you mean WiFi? I'm not sure if this place even has that, but if there it's anywhere my best guess would be near the Principals Office. Why do you ask? Are you trying to get a message to the outside world for help?" 

"No, that's not why, it's because Alter Ego asked me to bring it somewhere it can connect to a network so it can better help us." She explained. "It's risky, as the Mastermind may find out, but I think it'll be worth the risk." 

"But if you connect just anywhere, the Mastermind will see on the security cameras. Now that I know what you're trying to do, I'd say to try the secret room first. Of course, I'd have to bring it there, but Alter Ego will be safer that way." 

"Fine, I'll let you take it. I'd ask Hagakure or Byakuya to take it instead, but neither of them are very trustworthy. You aren't exactly either, but at least you pretend to be." 

"Whatever, just leave it to me." And with that, he finally got out of the Nurses Office, and went to find Alter Ego. It shouldn't take him too long to bring the computer up and get it plugged in, so maybe he could check on Genocider after this, unless she'd turned back to Fukawa by then. Makoto made his way down to the bathhouse, where he'd heard Alter Ego was, and found the locker it was in. He didn't see anyone on his way to the second floor, maybe everyone had gone to their rooms after all that drama... He reached the boys bathroom, and pushed back the closet wall once more. The room was empty except for a table and empty bookshelves, and he placed the laptop down before plugging it in to the wall. The cord wasn't to charge the computer, it was a cord that would connect the computer to the school's network. Opening the lid, he immediately saw Fujisaki's face on the screen. 

"Ah, you must be Makoto Naegi!" The AI said cheerfully. "Master told me about you! And thank you for bringing me here, I can now connect and help you escape easier!" 

'It's no problem, really. I'm glad you want to help us escape.' He typed as he smiled, and Alter Ego smiled back. 

"I know people say it's impossible for a computer program to feel emotions, but I'm telling the truth when I say that I truly want for you to escape, and that seeing all of your determination through all this gives me the courage to act. Just leave the rest to me, I'll do my best!" 

'Thanks again! I'm sure you'll get a lead in no time!' He typed, before leaving the Alter Ego to do its work.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took forever I'm sorry (I've been working on other things that I will never publish probably lmao save me and this isnt even edited because i don't have time)

Makoto yawned as he wandered the halls. He was a bit tired from, well, pretty much everything, so maybe he'd go somewhere to relax... Ah, perhaps he could go to the Rec room? That seemed like a nice place to relax, maybe he could read some of the magazines in there. He decided he didn't have anything better to do, and made his way there. When he tried to open the door, however- Why was it locked? Peering in through the small window, he could see the unmistakable figure of Sakura Ohgami, on the couch, unmoving. Wasn't it against school rules to sleep anywhere but the personal rooms? Did that mean she was... He had to see what was wrong. He tried the doorknob again, but it was still locked. He needed to get in there- He slammed his fist through the window, the glass shattering so he could reach through and unlock the door. It still didn't open! He looked through again, and saw there was a chair keeping it from opening. How did he miss that... He reached through again and moved it, and he was finally able to get it open. He rushed to check her pulse, and nodded solemnly. She was dead. Seriously, could they go one day without death or drama?

He briefly looked over the body, looking for any giveaways to how she died. There didn't appear to be any fatal wounds, though she was bleeding a bit from her head. He decided he ought to gather up the others- especially Kirigiri, he had to admit she was probably better at examining bodies than him. He wiped his hands on his pants as he walked out, smearing pink blood onto his black jeans. Maybe he should go change so he didn't look so suspicious... Yeah, he'd better do that, or he'd probably be blamed at the Trial. He started walking downstairs, trying to avoid running into anyone. He turned the corner and- Wham! He fell backwards, looking up at who he'd run into. Oh, it was Byakuya! He hadn't seen him since this morning. "There you are, I was just looking for you." Togami chuckled as he helped him up off the ground.

"Haha, yeah, I guess it's not that hard to find people in a place like this. I mean, there aren't many places to go..."

The blonde frowned as he noticed the blood that had gotten on his own hands, and the cuts on Naegi's. "What happened to you?"

"Huh? Oh, right, I need you to gather up the others and bring them to the Rec room. There's something there you need to see. I have to change, so go on without me."

"Makoto, what is it?"

".... Sakura. She's been killed."

"... I see. I can't say it's a surprise, though. I'll go get Kirigiri."

"Alright, I'll meet you there."

He gave Togami a quick kiss, before going opposite ways. Today had been going decent, too... At least they got a nice date in. He ran the rest of the way to Togami's room, where he kept his clothes. And then he realized... Oh. He didn't have the key. Damn it! He'd totally forgotten, and now he'd come all the way down here for nothing... Well, if he couldn't change he guessed he'd just go back up and wait for Togami and Kirigiri there. Hopefully Asahina wouldn't find out till later on, her grief would be... Distracting. 

Byakuya didn't have to search for long to find Kyouko, she was in the Chemistry Lab inspecting some strange powder in the floor. There appeared to be footprints in it as well. Strange... "Kirigiri. There has been another murder." The Detective turned around to face him, raising an eyebrow. "It was Ohgami, Makoto found her dead in the Rec room." He continued, and she nodded. 

"I suppose that means we should go check it out?" 

"No shit, Sherlock. Now hurry up, we only get limited time before the Trial." Kyouko glared at him, but didn't say anything. 

It was a short walk to the Rec room, where Naegi had already arrived and was waiting for them. As soon as they entered, the usual Body Discovery announcement was made, since 3 people had now seen the body. 

"Why is the window broken?" Kyouko questioned, and Naegi shrugged. 

"It was locked from the inside, and blocked by a chair, so I had to break it to get in." 

"I see. So this is a locked room murder." 

"Yeah, I guess..." 

While Naegi and Kirigiri inspected the body, which Byakuya refused to touch, he looked around the room a bit more. There were a few oddities that could be clues: The two missing Monokuma bottles, the bloodstain near the magazine shelf, the figurine that had fallen and shattered on the floor, the upside down magazine, which was next to one with Junko Enoshima, the Super High School Level Model, on it. She sure had met a gruesome end, hadn't she? He began to wonder who could've taken someone as strong as Sakura down... Fukawa surely couldn't have, even as Genocider this wasn't her killing style. Hagakure seemed unlikely as well... Could Aoi have done it? He doubted that as well, but it was a possibility. Speaking of which, he hadn't even noticed she had entered the room until she mumbled that she'd go get everyone else. Not the reaction he'd expected, but he supposed she could just be in shock. 

"Ah, so Sakura must've stepped in the powder." Kyouko commented, examining the yellow powder that was on Sakura's foot. "But it's on the top of her foot..." 

"Powder?" Makoto questioned, and she nodded. 

"Yes, there was some spilled in the Chemistry Lab." 

"Huh. I'm going to go check that out, maybe I can find out what it is..." 

Of course, Byakuya went with him. He wasn't just going to let him wander off alone when there was a murderer among them. The yellow powder was right where he last saw it, with the footprints still in the middle of it. After inspecting the footprints and determining that these probably weren't Sakura's as they were too small, Naegi went back to the Rec room to tell Kyouko. Togami decided he'd stay behind and look around a bit more... He was sure Kirigiri wasn't the culprit, and Naegi would be with her in the Rec room so he should be safe... After he had enough time to inspect the entire lab, Monokuma announced it was time to start the Trial. Admittedly he was a little worried for the outcome of this one. After all, it wasn't even clear how Sakura died in the first place... The elevator was now nearly empty, only five students left. He remembered when it used to be crowded in here... Not that he missed it. He took his place at the stand, most of which now had a black and white photo in a frame rather than an actual student. It was a bit dreary, if he were to be honest. 

"The Class Trial is now in session!" Monokuma stated. "Are we going to lose just one more student? Or will this Trial bring an end to this School Life entirely? Without further ado, let's get this started!" 

"The culprit was either Fukawa or Hagakure!" Asahina was the first to speak, and was clearly upset. "Sakura called you two to the Rec room, so it had to be one of you!" 

"I-I didn't do it! Why do you always go after me..." Hagakure obviously wasn't pleased that he was being blamed once again. 

"No, he did! I s-saw it with my own eyes!" Touko exclaimed. 

"What?! You saw me?!" 

"What are you two talking about? What did you see, Fukawa?" Makoto asked, frowning. 

"I was summoned by Sakura Ohgami," She explained. "B-but I was scared of her, so I got there first and hid in a locker. Then Hagakure entered, and Sakura asked him to wait... She said something like 'This is the end, I am going to end it all'. So he grabbed one of the bottles and s-smashed it over her head! He killed her!" 

"She's lying!" Yasuhiro yelled, visibly sweating. 

"Oh, so it was you? You're dead! You deserve to be executed! All right, can we cast our votes now?" Aoi asked. 

"Wait!" Naegi interjected. "Don't you think you're acting too fast? Ohgami was hit over the head with two bottles, not just one. Where did the other one come from if Hagakure killed her with a single blow?" 

"Right, I only hit her once!" The Fortune Teller affirmed. 

"So you admit you hit her?" Kirigiri asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Y-yeah, but I thought she was going to kill me, what with saying she was going to end it all! I did it out of self defense!" 

"Fukawa. What did you do after Hagakure left the room?" Byakuya asked, though as usual it came out more as a demand. 

"U-um..." 

"Spit it out already, we haven't got all day." 

"I don't remember! After Yasuhiro left the Recreation room, I came out of the locker a-and I passed out in front of the magazine shelf as soon as I saw Ohgami's blood!" 

"Which means we have to ask Genocider, correct?" 

"Right..." She used her hair to make herself sneeze, fell down temporarily, popping up again as Syo. "Here I am!!" 

"Answer only what I ask you." He really didn't need any side conversations going on, they only had a set amount of time before they had to vote. "Did you kill Sakura Ohgami?" 

"First, lemme get this outta the way: That gloomy girl and I don't share memories! So I'm not exactly sure what happened, but there I was, asleep in front of the shelf, when someone picked me off the floor. I opened my eyes, expecting to see my Prince, but instead I see this bloody ogre! It scared the shit out of me! I picked up a nearby bottle and smashed her head in! I mean it was pretty scary! Gotta make o-gurt outta ogre, hahaha!" Genocider cackled at her own joke, which no one else really found funny. 

"Man, I'm so glad I wasn't the one who killed Ogre..." Hagakure sighed in relief, his shoulders slumping. 

"That settles it! Let's begin the vote!" Aoi sure seemed to be in a rush to vote. She was acting strange today... 

"Wait! If Sakura was killed by Genocider, her corpse would have been in front of the magazine shelf. But she was sitting up on the couch when she died!" Naegi shouted. "And Genocider stated she didn't prop up her body on the couch, she just ran away!" 

"Nice catch, Makoto." Byakuya smirked. "There were also bloodstains by the magazine shelf, therefore it is undeniable she was attacked there. So if it wasn't Genocider or Yasuhiro, who was it then? How exactly did they kill her?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bottle, showing it to everyone in the courtroom. "Allow me to explain that. I got this from the Chemistry Lab, it's poison. The drug shelves in the Lab are separated into three sections: Nutrients, reagents, and poisons. But for whatever reason, this poison was sitting among the nutrients. To think of how this made it onto the nutrients rack..." He looked at the Swimmer as he said this, and she flinched. Without hesitation, he opened the bottle, and took, no, not a sip, he must have swallowed half the contents. 

"B-Byakuya, what are you doing?!" Naegi cried. "You just said that was poison, d-didn't you?! Oh my god, you're going to..." He was panicking, trying to think of what to do. Why the hell did he do that?! It's not like there was an antidote to be found in the courtroom, without an antidote Togami was dead... His eyes were starting to water... He wasn't the only one freaking out, in fact Togami and Kirigiri seemed to be the only calm ones. "Hey, are you even listening?! You're going to die if you don't throw it up or something!" Still, the blonde just smirked. 

"Togami, may I look at the bottle?" Kyouko asked, walking across the room to where he was. 

"I don't see why not." He handed her the bottle, and she poured some of it into her gloved hand, and she tasted a little for herself. 

"A-are you both stupid?! What are you doing?!" 

".... This isn't poison, this is protein powder." The Detective stated, and Makoto froze. it was just... protein powder... He was relieved of course, but now he was more angry than anything. Had he purposely tricked him into thinking it was poison?! Did he want him to think he would die?! What even was the point- 

"Correct. The poison bottle contained protein powder instead of it's original contents. There was also an empty protein shake bottle lying in the Recreation room, wasn't there? Which would mean someone switched the protein with the poison." 

".... So someone poisoned her, is that it?" The brunette mumbled. 

"Precisely. That's the conclusion I've reached. There's no mistake she was killed by the poison. Also, about the footprints in the Lab, when the culprit was switching them around, they messed up and spilled that yellow powder on the ground. The footprints appear to be from sneakers. There's only one person here that's wearing sneakers-" 

"It was me." Aoi admitted in a low voice. "Those footprints were mine. I'm the one who killed Sakura!" 

"A-Asahina... You of all people killed her?" The Fortune Teller asked in disbelief. 

"No way... You would really kill someone that close to you? You were best friends!" Naegi had never had to kill anyone he actually knew personally... 

"'Best Friends'. She used that relationship to her advantage. Ohgami would drink a protein shake from Asahina without thinking twice." The blonde seemed pleased with himself, he'd seemingly figured out this mystery. Was this really the correct answer, though? Would she really do that? 

".... That's right. In the Recreation room, Sakura asked me to bring her a protein shake." Aoi was shaking, holding back sobs. She sure didn't seem like the type, and even if she did she regretted it. 

"And that's when it came to you that you could kill her, correct? Right then and there. You then switched the contents of the poison bottle, and handed her a drink to end her life." 

"And when I did, Sakura drank it without hesitation..." 

Sakura was so precious to Aoi, she even defended her after finding out she was a spy... Given all that, this couldn't be it, right? It had to be someone else... But who? 

"Anyways, after Sakura drank it I left the Rec room..." 

Wait a minute, that wasn't right! "That's wrong! Asahina, none of this explains the locked door! Before I found the corpse, the door to the room was locked and even blocked with a chair. How did you lock the door after leaving the room? If you can't explain that, then you're clearly not the culprit." Naegi crossed his arms. "Why would you lie about being the culprit anyways..." 

"You can't be serious!" the Heir shouted. "The drugs were swapped! The culprit has to be her!" 

"Allow me to introduce a new piece of evidence, then." As usual, Kyouko kept her calm, stoic composure. "It's a clue you gave us, Togami." She poured out the protein into her hand again, this time a glass shard coming out with it. "This appears to be a piece of the window Naegi broke. Somehow, it found it's way into the bottle in the Chemistry Lab. There's something else strange about this, too. Those glass shards weren't on the protein shake bottle, but underneath. What exactly happened to those bottles?" 

"Wait, I think I got it!" Yes, he had the solution! "It was originally the bottle of poison in the Recreation room, so when I broke the window some of the glass got into it! While we were distracted by the corpse, someone picked up the bottle of poison and later, when they came back into the room with everybody else, they replaced it with the protein shake. They were trying to cover up Ohgami's death. The same yellow powder from in the lab was on her shoes, meaning she was the one who spilled it onto the floor. She must have knocked it off the shelf while she was trying to get the poison. If this is the case, Ohgami took the poison herself... In other words, this was a suicide. It would solve the mystery of the locked door, too. Ohgami locked herself in the Recreation room so that nobody could stop her from killing herself. It all started when she called Fukawa and Hagakure there. She only meant to talk with them, but then she got hit over the head by Yasuhiro and Touko. Asahina came in and saw, and Sakura must've asked her to bring her a protein shake. Of course she went to go get one for her best friend, however when she saw the spilled yellow powder in front of the poisons rack she realized what had happened. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. That must've been when she got Kirigiri to help her, and... We know what happened from there." 

"No! That's not it that's not it! I killed her... I KILLED HER!" 

"That's enough, Aoi. I know you must feel guilty, but it's over now. Sakura herself was the killer, not you. We have to put an end to this now." 

They all voted, and it turned out he was right. Sakura Ohgami, Super High School Level Martial Artist, had killed herself. Even Togami seemed to be in shock at this, his eyes wide. "So... This is the truth behind it all...?" 

"Didn't I tell you? If you kept making light of people's emotions, it would come back to bite you. And here we are now..." 

"Don't blame this on me! I was in no way a part of this!" 

"People don't act based on calculations or profit-or-loss arguments alone. You simply don't understand that. That is why you failed to uncover the truth." 

"Neither calculations nor profit-or-loss arguments, you say? Why did she hide the cause of Ohgami's death, then?!" 

"I'll tell you why," Aoi glared at him. She held up a piece of paper, and Makoto tilted his head. What was that? "This is Sakura's will. 'This ugly battle has left me in despair. I Would rather end myself than wait for someone to kill me.' Sakura felt guilty about being an agent, so she tried her best to earn everyone's forgiveness... But you all trampled her feelings! This is our fault, all of ours! Sakura had a frail side, you know! She was just a normal person, like any of us! We have no right to live after what we did!" 

"So... You did this so we'd die with her?" 

There was a long pause, before Monokuma interrupted. "Sorry to intrude on your tear-jerking story, but Ohgami's real will is right here." He pulled out another piece of paper, and Aoi gasped. 

"W-what is this, then?" 

"Oh, that? The stuff i randomly scribbled?" 

"W-What?!" 

"Now then, allow me to read this all to you in my famously wonderful voice! Ahem: 'To my best friend, Asahina, the Mastermind took my family hostage and forced me to do his bidding. But I no longer wish to betray my friends, especially you. My death will douse the flames of infighting, and prevent any further killings. I shall gladly give my life for that purpose, for all of you are my precious friends. Asahina, my girl, I am truly sorry. Survive with your friends. You must survive!' That is all it says." 

"S-Sakura killed herself to stop us from fighting?! No..." 

"But thanks to you, everyone ended up at each others throats! I guess Ohgami died in vain, then." 

"Not true!" The Assassin interjected. "While Asahina may have caused us to fight, Ohgami reminded us that we're friends and we should be cooperating!" 

"Naegi's right!" Hagakure agreed. 

"Monokuma, I'm dropping out of this game. I'll be focusing on finding the Mastermind so I can punish them rather than escaping. That sounds more fun to me anyways." Togami declared, though it's not like he'd been in the game for a while now. He'd stopped focusing on killing quite some time ago... 

"What the heck?!" 

"Same here, I'd follow my Prince anywhere!" Genocider added, making the bear even angrier. 

"You guys are no fun anymore! Hmph, whatever. I can still amuse myself by dishing out some punishment. We have a special guest today!" 

Makoto was thoroughly confused. The culprit was already dead, so who could he possibly punish? His heart sank when he saw a laptop open up in the execution zone. Alter Ego. The AI smiled and looked around, not knowing what was about to happen to it. Suddenly, a crane typically used for construction came crashing behind the computer, Monokuma driving it. There was a brief pause before Alter Ego, their last chance of escaping this place, was smashed to bits. He felt sick... They were never going to get out now, were they? He would never see Komaru again, or even the sunlight, or the stars.... He'd never see Komaeda or go to the college he'd worked so hard to attend... What even was the point now? He walked with his head down out of the courtroom, he was just so... Tired. Tired of this stupid game. He just wanted to hurry and get out of here... Byakuya didn't seem to be in the mood to talk either, as he silently walked back with him to his room. He did speak however when he noticed Naegi was going back to his own room. "Where are you going?" 

".... Why did you do that?" 

"Do what?" 

"At the Trial, you pretended to drink poison! Do you know how much that scared me?! I actually thought you were going to die!" 

"Makoto, I-" 

"It had glass shards in it, too, do you know how dangerous that was?! Actually, the entirety of the Trial you were acting up!" He could feel tears starting to form in his eyes. He just wanted it to be over... "Can't anything go right...?" He felt the Heir's arms wrap around him and tightly hug him, slender fingers running through his hair as he began to cry into his shoulder. "Shh... It'll be okay..." 

"How are things supposed to get any better? We don't even have Alter Ego anymore... What is there left to hope for?" He didn't get a response, and he could feel Togami's shoulders start to shake. Was he... Crying? They stood there without moving or speaking, until Naegi finally pulled away from his grasp. "C'mon, let's just go to bed..." Again, no reply, he just unlocked the door to his room. Neither bothered changing or doing anything besides locking the door behind them and taking off their shoes before climbing in bed. As soon as they were comfortable, Byakuya broke the silence again. "Makoto, you don't ever... Have suicidal thoughts, right? You don't want to die, do you?" He sounded awfully concerned, Sakura's actions must have gotten him worried. 

"No, I'm fine. Dying would mean leaving you, wouldn't it?" 

"Seriously, all romance aside, you want to be alive?" 

"... Yes. I didn't work so hard to stay alive just to give up now, did I?" 

"That's a relief. Promise you'll tell me if you start feeling like that..." 

"I promise."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ITS BEEN FOREVER I'M SORRY

Byakuya woke up to the sound of Monokuma announcing it was now daytime. Usually he was a pretty heavy sleeper and just ignored the announcement, but last night he just couldn't seem to fall asleep, and when he did, he'd wake up not long after. Needless to say, he didn't get much sleep that night. Makoto on the other hand hadn't even woken up, still fast asleep next to him. Despite last nights.... Complications, he seemed to be sleeping peacefully, no nightmares or anything. That was a relief, he had been a bit worried about that, then again he'd been a 'bit worried' about nearly everything since that Trial. He brushed the brunette hair from the boys face, before looking to his hand. He'd never bandaged it up after breaking that window, so it was now covered in scabs and scars. Again, he felt sorry for him, he always seemed to be covered in various injuries. Was he like this even before they came to this 'school'? He hoped not, but considering his work it wouldn't be surprising... He could already feel the guilt from last night eating away at him even now. He'd be forgiven, right? He hoped so... He lightly kissed the wounds on Makoto's hand, and the brunette soon woke up, blushing and looking away sheepishly at his kisses. As much as he'd like to just stay in bed, they did have a new floor to explore... "Ah, you're awake. Come on, Monokuma should be opening up a new floor soon." He reluctantly sat up, and Makoto did the same. Hopefully, today would be more relaxing than the previous few...

"You're not still upset with me, are you?" Byakuya asked as he got up, stretching his stiff arms and legs.

"Hm... A little bit, yeah, but as long as you don't even think about pulling something like that again I'll forget about it..."

"I see. I won't do it again, I promise."

Makoto smiled at him, getting out of bed. "Good... Seriously, you scared me... I don't think I could stand losing you." Byakuya felt his cheeks heat up slightly at his words, Makoto being affectionate always managed to make him blush, even if it was just a little. Makoto yawned as he once again changed and tossed his dirty clothes into the corner where he usually piled the laundry. He was in a better mood this morning than he had been last night, and it seemed Byakuya wasn't planning on frightening him like that again. Makoto finished getting dressed sooner than Byakuya did, as he didn't have to put on a tie or anything. He admired him as he got dressed... He really did look perfect. Well, not 'perfect' in a literal sense... But he was perfect in his own way. His long legs, his thin figure, his blonde hair, his eyes... He thought his eyes were the prettiest part about him, honestly, as often as he might say that...

After brushing their teeth and hair, the two left for the new floor, hand tightly in hand. The heir didn't know why, but he kept tracing the scratches on Makoto's hand with his thumb... Perhaps it was to remind himself that he needed to keep him safe. He didn't want him to get hurt again... After all, Makoto made him happy like no one else had, he couldn't lose someone like that... 

"Woah, this is so cool! Byakuya, look at that!" The brunette exclaimed as they entered the garden, pointing to the huge plant in the center. It was a flower, about as big as a tree, maybe bigger... How did they manage to keep this thing alive? Was the Mastermind watering it this whole time? Nevertheless, it was a beautiful plant... "We should go on another date here sometime!" He seemed really excited about that. Byakuya quietly chuckled at his enthusiasm, before going to see what else was in this garden. Oddly enough, there was a chicken coop... What were these here for? There were five in total... The Mastermind must've been keeping them alive and using them for fresh eggs. "Hm... Strange." There was another shed next to that one. Were there more animals? No, just tools when he checked... All possible murder weapons, as to be expected. Pick-axes, shovels... Things of the like. Not that he'd ever need any of these. "Hehe, you don't think those chickens are secretly dangerous, do you? Who knows, they could be blood-thirsty creatures! Or bombs in disguise!" Makoto joked as they exited the garden to see what else was on this floor. No more staircases leading up... "So this is the last floor, hm? It's a pity that many people have died for us to get here. Oh, well..." The blonde muttered, squeezing his hand tighter. He wasn't going to let Makoto be one of those people. Makoto frowned at that, but continued exploring, leading them to what appeared to be a normal classroom... However, something seemed off even before he opened the door. The smell... It smelled familiar to him somehow. Blood... Blood and rot. As soon as he opened the door, the smell only got stronger. He was used to it, Byakuya, however, was not, and backed away slightly from the door. "That's disgusting..." Many of the desks were tipped over and scattered across the room, dark, long dried blood spattered all over the walls. Something caught his eye... On the wall, 'Eye for an Eye' had been written in blood... What was that supposed to mean? A clue to what happened here, to be sure, but he couldn't tell exactly what kind of tragedy went down here. "Perhaps this is a part of the Tragedy that Alter Ego was speaking of..." Byakuya commented, now peering into the classroom, still not stepping inside. "Let's just leave now. It smells horrible." Makoto agreed, before exiting the classroom and closing the door behind him. "Yeah, let's just go to breakfast now. I'm hungry, anyways." The heir wondered how he could be hungry and not feel nauseous after seeing that, but he supposed he was used to it, and said nothing. 

The two were the last to arrive at breakfast, as they'd been wandering for a while. Everyone else must've gotten there earlier...

"Togami, Naegi! You two are awfully late! Were you exploring the fifth floor?" Asahina asked. "What did you find? Other than the garden, of course, we all already know about that."

Byakuya was quite annoyed at her questioning, honestly, but it was smarter than asking nothing, so he couldn't really blame her, as much as he disliked the swimmer. "There was a classroom, I'm sure you could smell it from the hallway. It was teeming with the scent of blood... I'd bet a lot of people died in there. I can assume that's the Tragedy that Alter Ego was talking about." He explained as he sat down, Naegi quickly sitting next to him.

"W-what the hell?" Asahina was obviously shocked, and it seemed Hagakure was as well. It truly was a terrible room... Other than himself and Naegi, Kyouko Kirigiri seemed to be the only person not in horror at this.

"I'll try to find out what happened in that classroom-"

"No, not again." Byakuya interjected. "You always disappear at crucial times. Where were you when the Yamada, Celeste, and Ohgami incidents happened? Isn't it about time you told us, Kyouko?"

"Told you what?" Kirigiri asked, obviously not wanting to answer questions about herself. It seemed she'd rather remain a mystery.

"Who you are. Who exactly are you, Kyouko Kirigiri?"

There was a long pause after that. There seemed to be a general consensus that she needed to tell them or remain suspicious. Still, her reply was not an answer to his question.

".... I can't say. I don't remember." She seemed genuine, but... Not remembering who she was? No one would believe that.

"Huh? You can't say? W-what the heck's that? What d-do you mean, 'you don't remember'?" Fukawa asked, incredulous of her 'answer'.

"Shut up, Fukawa." Byakuya snapped coldly. She really did get on his nerves... "And do something about your bad breath. It smells about as awful as that rotting room on the fifth floor." The author flinched and immediately covered her mouth, turning away from him frantically. That should keep her quiet for a while... "And amnesia? What kind of joke for an excuse is that? Do you really expect us to believe you?"

Kirigiri sighed at that. "I know you won't. That's why I haven't brought it up."

"If that's the way you're going to act, then we're going to have to restrict your movement." He stood up and walked over to where she was sitting, holding out his hand. "Give me the keys to your room."

A 'huh?' of confusion resounded around the cafeteria, though as usual, the white haired girl remained unfazed. 

"That's going to far!" Aoi exclaimed, and she was probably right... Taking the keys to her room wouldn't do much good, would it? She could go anywhere else in the school... But Togami ignored her. 

"If you don't want to, then speak up."

"Hey, Byakuya, you know this sounds more like a threat than a-" Naegi tried to say something, but he was cut off by Kirigiri.

"Fine."

"So you'll tell us the truth?"

Instead, she handed him her keys. She'd really go this far to keep the truth about her from them? She must have a secret too, much like Makoto did... Trying to expose him seemed hypocritical of her now.

"You little... Why? Why are you so bent on keeping this from us?" The heir growled. He had been sure he'd get what he wanted, but...

"You know, maybe she is telling the truth about having amnesia..." Asahina chimed in, but it seemed unlikely. Even so, Yasuhiro agreed with her.

"Yeah, it's not out of the question... I mean, this is a terrible academy where only the most terrible things can happen."

"Hmph. I wonder about that..." Kirigiri murmured, finally speaking up again. "Can you say for sure that only the most terrible things happen here? .... Anyways, my movement is restricted now. I hope you're satisfied."

What was she talking about? Why would she defend this school? Perhaps she was talking about those pictures... They appeared to be taken in a similar school, so maybe she meant it was the same place? That wasn't out of the question, either. Maybe this really was Hopes Peak... Just someone had taken over it. The Mastermind. Makoto stood up to go after her, but the blonde put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him from going any farther. "I want you to stay away from her." He was about to reply that he could fend for himself, and that he was sure Kirigiri wouldn't attack him, but Fukawa interrupted him. Well, kind of... Her speaking was muffled from behind her hands. "Do you have something to say? Go ahead and pollute the room with your breath, if you wish. This better be useful, though." Fukawa sighed in relief as soon as she took her hands away, her face tinted pink from blushing. "I-I'm truly honored, Byakuya... A-also, my breath should be better now..."

"Well? What did you want to say? Spit it out already."

"Y-yes! W-well, I found something interesting in one of the fifth floor classrooms..."

Byakuya's eyes widened at what she held out to show him. "A survival knife?"

"H-hey, that's way too dangerous for a serial killer to have!" Hagakure shouted worriedly from across the room, standing up from his chair. "I'll hold onto it!"

"No, hang on a second. Hagakure, Asahina, both of you have tried to harm others in the Ohgami case and can't be trusted. That means, by process of elimination, it comes down to you." Byakuya turned to his boyfriend, glad that no one else knew his secret. Then he definitely wouldn't be allowed to hold onto the knife... "Hang onto it for the time being."

"... Alright." Makoto replied, taking the knife from Touko. 

"Hey, Fukawa." Byakuya addressed her, and she jumped in surprise.

"O-oh, is it my bad breath? I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for the stink-"

"Nice find. You did well for once." He turned away from her, not wanting her to think this was because he liked her... He was cruel to her, but this was potentially a significant find. A clue to what could have happened... He tuned her out as she rambled on to herself about how this must be a dream... She was seriously strange. He was about to leave, and hopefully get some more alone time with his boyfriend in the garden, when the TV screen flicked on, revealing Monokuma, as usual. What did that thing want now...?

"Hey, you guys... Get your asses down to the gym! I'm really, REALLY mad, got it!?"

That was all he said before the TV once again turned off. Byakuya sighed, before grabbing Makoto's free hand and leading him to the gym. This couldn't be good...When they got there, along with everyone else, the bear was furiously punching a fish...? "One of you is a thief!" He shouted, not even turning his head towards them.

"What?" Hagakure voiced everyone else's question. What exactly did he mean?

"One of you stole my priceless treasure, didn't you?! I trusted you all as a teacher, yet you betrayed my trust!"

"Wait, treasure? What are you talking about?" Asahina asked, which only angered the robotic bear more.

"Don't play dumb with me! You even broke the surveillance camera! That's against school rules, you know?! Huh? One of you is missing. Grr! I bet she's the thief! No, you're all responsible for this! I hope you all end up unemployed and homeless!" He shouted, before jumping behind the podium and disappearing. Ah, Kirigiri was missing... It must've been her, then, but what was he talking about? What had been stolen?

"Stealing something from Monokuma? Only Kyouko Kirigiri could pull off such a stunt." Byakuya sighed. "Come on, Makoto, let's go now."

Makoto stared at the floor in thought as they left the gym and went back to the cafeteria. Just what was she thinking?! Especially after seeing what happened to Junko, she should know that breaking the school rules was a terrible, terrible idea... Well, he couldn't stop her, but she was certainly a big help during investigations, and they really couldn't afford to lose her for that reason. He still wanted to be friends after all this, too... Well, investigations were more important, but still... He went straight to the kitchen to make himself breakfast, pouring himself a bowl of cereal while Byakuya made toast. "She's really going to get herself in trouble one of these days..." He huffed. "Of course she is. She's nosy, so it was bound to happen one of these days. Stealing from Monokuma seems a bit extreme, even for her... Even if Monokuma 'punishes' her, I'm sure we'll make it. We're both smart, we can figure it out." He tried to stay positive for Makoto, he was the only person he'd ever try and look on the bright side for... "I guess you're right... Let's take our breakfast up to the gardens, okay? It'll be like a picnic!" Optimistic, as always... Byakuya smiled at him. "Alright, alright.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this all in one night I'm so tired !!!


	18. Chapter 18

"Byakuya, if you finish your toast before we get there, it won't really be a picnic date..." Makoto complained, having noticed he'd already eaten half of it on their way up to the last floor.

"Well, it's not my fault you're walking so slowly. If you wanted to walk all the way up here, you really shouldn't have made cereal. You're going to spill it." Byakuya sighed in reply, taking another bite despite his boyfriends complaint. "Plus, I'm hungry. You can't expect me to wait this long before eating."

"I guess you're right... But we're almost there! Oh well, I can assume it'll be enjoyable even without the picnic part. The garden seems pretty nice, and I'll be with you..." Makoto giggled, looking over to see if Byakuya was blushing. He could see he was, just a little, knowing his small attempt at flirting had worked. They finally arrived on the fifth floor, and the two were both ready to be completely done with climbing stairs... This was supposed to be Hope's Peak, for gods sake, why didn't they just have an elevator?

"I'm still amazed by how beautiful it is in here..." Makoto sighed happily. "My mom used to want a huge garden like this. Of course, we didn't have enough room or time to take care of it..." The blonde quietly chuckled at this. He rather liked it when he told him about his life...

The brunette sat down in the grass, and Byakuya sat next to him soon after. In all honesty, Makoto was glad to feel grass again.

"Heh, I never thought I'd miss the feeling of grass..."

"It is an odd thing to miss, though I understand what you mean."

"You know what I miss even more, though?" The Assassin grinned at him.

"What's that?"

"I miss the sky. Your eyes remind me of the clear blue sky..."

"... Q-quit flirting." The heir mumbled in return, looking away to hide his blush. He was so cute when he was embarrassed! Makoto thought so, at least.

"Well, what can I say? I'm just telling the truth." He laughed. "Really though, I do miss the sky... Once we get out of here, we can stargaze together. Won't that be nice? Of course, none of the stars will ever be as pretty as you."

"Makoto..." Byakuya huffed. "I didn't know you were such a flirt. I have to admit, that does sound enjoyable though." The blonde finished the last of his toast, before laying back.

"See? I told you." The boy complained as he took a bite of his cereal, though he soon set it aside to take off his shoes.

"What are you doing?"

"I just want to feel the grass under my feet again. It's been a long while... Kinda makes me nostalgic, you know?"

"I see... I never really played outside as a kid, so I can't say I would feel any nostalgia."

"You must've been a strange kid then!" Makoto again laughed, setting his red converse and socks aside and letting the grass and dirt run between his toes. He remembered running around outside barefoot in the yard all the time when he was younger... Sometimes with his friends, sometimes with Komaru. He loved being outside as a kid, though he wasn't involved in any sports. He just wasn't cut out for them. He wished he could go back home... The fresh air would feel so nice, and a temperature other than the constantly air conditioned one of this building would be as well. He closed his eyes for a moment as he imagined it, before picking the styrofoam bowl back up and taking another bite.

"Are you always covered in injuries, Makoto?" Byakuya's words snapped him out of his daydreaming, and he thought for a moment before nodding.

"Well, yeah, it's nothing serious though. Just bruises and scratches... I heal pretty quickly though, so it's usually gone within a week." He always had to be careful to hide all his injuries from his family, otherwise they might think he was getting into trouble or being bullied, or something, and if he didn't hide them in public that'd be even worse. Security had been getting a little tight, and he would look suspicious if they saw that. Maybe he'd even be listed as a suspect, if his injuries matched the ones on the security tapes. That would be no good... Though with his luck, he might've been able to get out of it.

"I see. Try to be more careful from now on, alright? I can't stand seeing you hurt like that."

"Fine, fine. Once we go to college together, I won't get hurt as often..." Even though he had always wanted a normal life, he still felt reluctant on giving up on assassination. Not that he enjoyed it, but... He had nothing else but that, everything else about him was utterly average. Not being able to do what he was talented at would be... Boring? He wasn't quite sure at the moment. He could see Byakuya smiling at that, so at least he would be happy with it. He was sure it wouldn't be at all bad as long as he was still with Byakuya! He had made him feel genuine happiness for the first time since Maizono died. Before that, everything had been quite dreary. He may have a lot of 'friends', though none of them were really all that close to him. He had wanted to distance them anyways, just in case they died, or he had to kill them... But he felt differently about his boyfriend. He wanted to protect him, no matter what it took.

"That's good. I look forward to going to college if it's with you, honestly."

"Me too! Let's just hope we get some of the same classes, then we can share notes!"

Byakuya chuckled at his enthusiasm. He thought it was cute, honestly, for him to seem so excited for even more years of school. Well, he couldn't deny that he was a little excited too. All thy needed to do was escape, then they should be fine, right? Unless the police somehow found out about Makoto's job, then he wasn't sure he or Hopes Peak would be able to get him out of being arrested, or put to the death penalty. What a nightmare that would be... He wouldn't allow that to happen. There was a long pause, mostly because Makoto was eating his breakfast, though after a while there was more to be said.

"So Byakuya... What was your childhood like? You did say you never played outside."

What a strange question... "I don't remember a lot of it to be honest. I went to a private school, and I spent most of my time studying so I could become heir. In the end it payed off, however I hated it at the time... I didn't even want to go live with my father, but I didn't have a say in the matter. After I won it was just business... Studying, meetings, it was boring if I'm being honest."

Makoto frowned slightly at that. It must not have sounded like a very fulfilling childhood to him. "Hm... It's almost the opposite of mine. Then again, it's not like I needed to train for anything. I just went to school and messed around with my friends mostly... It was a pretty normal childhood."

"As I would expect. We just come from opposite worlds, don't we..."

"That's not a bad thing! We're in the same world right now, aren't we?"

Byakuya smiled a bit at that. "And that's all that matters to us right now."

"Exactly!" Makoto leaned down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, careful not to spill milk on him. "I don't have to worry about my job, you don't have to worry about your business, it's like a vacation! Well, other than the murders, of course... But other than that!"

"Mhm..."

Makoto finished up his cereal, setting the bowl on the ground before standing up. 

"Makoto, where are you going?"

"I'm gonna go look at the chickens!"

"You sound like a little kid..."

"Well, I don't want to be serious right now! I've been being serious way too often, in my opinion, so I'm going to be taking a break from all that. I'm not going to think about the missing file, or Kirigiri, or any of the murders, today can be my day off!"

The heir laughed at this. He really was one of a kind... He got up as well, picking up the now empty bowl on the ground. "I'll be there in a minute, after I throw away this." He would've said something about cleaning up after himself, but he decided he'd try to be laid back today, even if that wasn't exactly how he usually acted. He was right, things had been too serious lately, what with finding that horrible classroom, to the knife, and restricting Kirigiri's movements, he should take a break while he had that chance. He didn't have to worry about his image here and how it would effect the company, no one outside could see this... Right? Hopefully not. He found the nearest trash bin, tossing the foam bowl inside before going to the chicken coops, where Makoto had already managed to pick up one of the hens. Wasn't he afraid of it pecking his hands? Well, that must be nothing compared to everything else that has happened to him...

"Byakuya, you try picking one up! They're super friendly!" Makoto insisted, holding out the chicken he was holding towards him. There was no way he was holding that thing! It could peck him or fly out of his arms and start running around the school, not to mention it was a filthy animal- it probably walked around in it's own waste, and it had sawdust and dirt on it. 

"... No thanks."

"Whaaaaat? Oh come on, don't tell me you're afraid of chickens!" The brunette teased, opening the top of the coop and setting the chicken back inside. 

"Did you grow up on a farm or something? I don't get how you can hold such a dirty thing without being at least a little disgusted."

"Eh, well, it could be something worse! Like, uh, pigs! Those are known for being gross."

"Well, still. It's a farm animal."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Makoto laughed, and the blonde felt himself blush. He was so cute... Honestly, he regretted ever assuming he was ordinary. He was so different than anyone else he'd met, and he knew no one else could make him feel the way Makoto did. He truly did love him. Byakuya stepped closer to him once he was a little further away from the coop, grabbing his chin and gently tilting his head upwards to kiss him. He felt his boyfriend smile into the kiss, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him closer. 

"You know..." Byakuya murmured as he pulled away from his lips. "You really do make me happy. Happier than anyone else has made me... I love you."

The shorter boy giggled at his, his cheeks flushed light pink. "I know that you love me, and I love you too... I'm glad I can make you happy. You make me really happy too! I'm so glad I met you."

Byakuya was about to reply, when he heard a noise behind them. It seemed Makoto noticed as well, as he pulled away and looked to see what it was. Oh, crap.

"U-uh, I didn't mean to, uh, intrude or anything-" The man stumbled over his words, clearly having seen what they were doing a few moments ago. His apology was cut off by Makoto's annoyed and embarrassed yell, however.

"Hagakure!"

"Seriously, I didn't mean to... I'll just go now, hahaha..." 

"Hey, get back here! You'd better not tell anyone about this! Hagakure!"

Byakuya watched and laughed as Makoto chased after the Fortune Teller. Normally he'd be worried about him telling everyone else, especially Fukawa, but he was too happy right now to be concerned with that. He was actually happy... It was strange knowing that somehow he'd found happiness at Hopes Peak Academy, during a murderous game no less, but it was a wonderful feeling, so lighthearted... Before he befriended and fell in love with him, it had seemed like forever since he felt true happiness. Last time would be... Since he won? No, that was more of a morbid joy than anything... Maybe it was last time he had visited his mother. She lived in France, so it wasn't very often he got to see her. Nevertheless, he found it amazing... He reveled in it for a moment, taking a deep breath. He should enjoy this while he still could. If he had lead an ordinary, commoners life... Was this the kind of feeling he'd get every day? Was this the kind of feeling one got when visiting a friend? 'There's happiness in an ordinary life too, you know.' He'd heard that many times before, but it was only just now he was starting to understand what they meant by that. Now he understood why it was Makoto wanted a normal life again rather than continuing to use his talent...

"Makoto, Hagakure, stop running around like a couple of idiots. You're acting like children."

"Byakuya, help me catch him! We can't just let him get away with seeing that! Not without him making him promise to keep it a secret, at least!"

"I said I was sorry! I won't tell anyone, I swear!"

"Then stop running away!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for how long the updates take, I'm working on a lot of projects that should be posted here sooner or later... Anyways, I hope you enjoyed~ I might've gotten carried away with the fluff lol


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this took like a month whoops sorry everyone

"So? Did you catch him, Makoto?" Byakuya asked as the exhausted brunette approached him in the gardens once more, sweating slightly.

"No... But running around in a sweatshirt and a jacket was a bad idea..." Makoto sighed, taking off his blazer and tying it around his waist. "I don't think he'll be telling the others anytime soon though, luckily! That way we can avoid any more conflict with Fukawa..."

The heir nodded at this. "Yes, I'd rather avoid that. Though... I am sure Kirigiri is aware of our relationship, however she doesn't seem to want to cause trouble over it. To her it must be quite obvious... She's like a detective, after all."

"She does?" Makoto wasn't all that surprised, however... "Well... I guess there's nothing we can do about it, then... As long as Fukawa doesn't know, then it'll be alright-" He suddenly clapped his hands together as he recalled something from earlier. "Oh! I have to put the knife back in my room!"

Byakuya frowned at this. He didn't want him to leave... But he supposed they couldn't let anyone else get their hands on it. That would most definitely cause trouble. "Right... I'll meet you in the library once you're done with that." He pulled his boyfriend close, kissing him on the forehead. "Now, you stay safe, alright? And try to hurry once you're done..."

Makoto blushed slightly as he kissed him, smiling up at the heir. "Don't worry, I will! I'll be back as soon as I can!" He chirped, before running off, though he soon slowed to a walk, as he was tired from chasing Hagakure around. He was glad he was walking downstairs instead of up... Now that would really be a hassle. He unlocked his room as soon as he got to it, quickly closing the door behind him. He had hidden all the weapons that he had found in his room, but still, he wouldn't want anyone noticing the glimpse of a blade behind his desk, or something poking out from under his bed. He opened up the drawer where he had stored most of the knives he had found, the light glinting off of the shiny metal in a satisfying manner. Of course, as soon as he tucked the weapon away, there was a knock on his door. Had Byakuya followed him down here or something? He doubted it... He glanced around his room to make sure nothing looked suspicious, before opening the door a crack. Kyouko Kirigiri... What did she want?

"Oh, Kirigiri! Did you need something?" He asked with an innocent smile.

"Meet me in the changing rooms." The girl stated bluntly. "I'll be waiting for you."

He wasn't able to get in another word before she had coolly strolled off, leaving him quite confused. What exactly was it she needed to tell him, or show him? He was sure she wasn't planning to murder him, but just in case... he grabbed a pocket knife, tucking it in his pocket for safety. He didn't have time to tell Byakuya where he was going. He just hoped this wouldn't take too long, otherwise he might be angry with him for just going with her on a whim. It was potentially dangerous, but he could handle himself!

"I apologize for calling you down here so suddenly." Kirigiri started as soon as he arrived. "I have something I need to tell you, and this is the only place with no cameras."

The assassin tilted his head slightly at this, wondering what could be so important as to need secrecy, before she showed him a key. Not just any key, however, this one was different from any room key- It had Monokuma's face engraved on the end. This must be what she stole from him! Well, it appeared he didn't need to bring a knife after all- She had good intentions, or better intentions than he had assumed, at least. Maybe she trusted him now?

"Monokuma's key? That's the treasure he was talking about being stolen this morning?"

"I found it in the Principals office." She explained, though, it didn't explain much.

"Wasn't it locked up? How did you get in there?"

"It was thanks to Sakura. She opened it for us. Don't you remember what she said in her will? 'My death will not be in vain. I'll get you back for this'."

"Did she break in there or something?" That was against the rules... Wouldn't she have been killed like Junko if she had actually broken the door down?

"... That isn't important." Kirigiri brushed it off. Well, he assumed that was a 'no'. "Anyhow, it was thanks to her I was able to find out about Mukuro Ikusaba. My intuition tells me she is a danger... For all we know, she might be the Mastermind behind all this."

Mukuro Ikusaba... Somehow, the name sounded familiar. Did he know her from somewhere? He couldn't recall ever hearing about her before this... "You could be right, but... Didn't Alter Ego say there was a good chance it was the principal?"

The girl shook her head at this. "No. He isn't the one behind this. I don't have any proof, however, this is something I know."

How could she be so sure? It didn't make any sense... It must just be her intuition. She was usually correct about these things, however, Makoto wasn't willing to fully believe her unless she had at least some evidence to back her up... Though, if this information about 'Mukuro' was hidden like that, then maybe she really did have a role in this...

"You know, Kirigiri, you don't have to hide things from me. You can trust me!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't really explain it right now. You probably think I'm selfish, don't you? Since we're here, I want to ask you a favor."

A favor? What did she want him to do?

"I want to investigate what this keys use is. Could you distract Monokuma while I do so?"

Distract him? Was she crazy?! How was he supposed to do that? "You know, I think that's a little risky... Both me distracting him and you investigating on your own."

"We have to take risks in order to move forward. If we don't, we will never escape this school. Don't you agree?" She stared at him, expecting him to agree with her. Well, she wasn't wrong...

"Yeah, I guess so... But you have to promise me something. If it gets too dangerous, you have to turn back, alright? The class trials would be chaotic without you... You're someone we can't afford to lose in a situation like this."

".... In that case, I don't really have a choice, do I? Alright then... I promise."

And with that, she left, as did Makoto. However he went in the opposite direction as her. How could he distract Monokuma... He glanced up at one of the hallway cameras, nodding as he came up with something. Well, this was a lot more than he bargained for, but for the sake of escaping this school, he had to.

"Hey, Monokuma! I know you're watching this! I need to talk to you about something!" Ugh, this was a dumb idea, but it had to work, right? Even if it was just for a little while. "Come out here!"

The hallway suddenly became darker, before he noticed a spotlight in one corner. Was that really necessary? The dumb thing even had a security camera on its head... Well, not a real one, it was just a costume, but still.

"Hello, it's me, Monokuma. What were you and Kirigiri doing in the, Naegi?" The bear asked with a mischievous laugh. "You two were all alone in the changing rooms together! Did things get-"

"I'm not interested in girls, Monokuma, so no." He immediately cut him off to prevent any further embarrassment. Honestly, he didn't care that anyone knew if he was gay. It was just the fact he needed to prevent Fukawa from finding out about his relationship with Byakuya- That was the one and only reason he was keeping it a secret.

"Aww, so that's not it?" Monokuma threw off the security camera costume, letting out a disappointed sigh. "Well, it's not like I care. I like my TV to be clean and wholesome, nothing R-rated."

Makoto just barely prevented himself from scoffing at that. Brutal murder definitely not 'wholesome', and was most certainly R-rated. Still, he didn't say anything about it. If he were sarcastic and rude, then Monokuma might leave too early and find out what Kirigiri was doing. He had to keep he conversation going.

"So is that why there aren't any cameras in the bathhouse and changing rooms?"

"Bulls-eye! That's right!"

"Actually... It was because the moisture would fog up the camera lenses, wasn't it? You wouldn't be able to see a thing in the first place." He could see Monokuma grow 'nervous' at that, though he was sure he was just being dramatic. Knowing this wasn't really dangerous information... "So that was the real 'bulls-eye', huh?"

"Wait a minute!" The robot suddenly appeared annoyed. "What did you want to talk to me about, anyways?"

Crap! He hadn't thought about that. "Uhm... What exactly is the 'stolen treasure'?" Thankfully, he had come up with something on the spot.

"Huh?! What the heck?! Good grief. I'm utterly shocked! I've been hit with a 100 megavolt shock!"

"Can you please just answer me..." He was getting a little annoyed, in all honesty.

"Shouldn't you be asking more important things? Are teenage boys really this pathetic? I'll tell you... IT'S OBVIOUSLY A SECRET, DUMBASS!" The mechanical bear stormed off with that, though, he wasn't sure if that was enough time for Kirigiri.

"Hey, get back here! We aren't done yet!" He ran after him, though it seemed he had disappeared as quickly and suddenly as he appeared. Hm... Well nothing he could do now, he supposed-

"Makoto."

He jumped slightly as he was addressed, turning around to see Byakuya at the other end of the hall.

"What was that all about? You were supposed to come to the library." His voice was monotonous, though he could tell he had been worried about him.

"Kirigiri told me to come talk to her and, well... I kinda got wrapped up in some other stuff. I apologize for not telling you first, but- Well, I can't tell you here... But it was really important, I promise!"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow at that, crossing his arms. He didn't seem to believe him... He must've heard what Monokuma said about him and Kirigiri being alone in the changing rooms. Ah, well, of course that would be a cause for suspicion... Hoping Byakuya would understand why he couldn't explain right now, he tilted his head towards the security camera on the wall, and the blonde seemed to get it.

".... I see. I still want an explanation, however... I don't understand why you would try to engage in a conversation with that thing." The heir muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Knowing Monokuma, he wouldn't give you any useful answers. I don't see the point. I suppose I'll just have to wait for you to explain that." He sighed at this, before turning away from him. "Come on. We are still going to the library, correct?"

Makoto nodded at that, coming closer to grab his hand and start walking towards the stairs. "Don't worry, it wasn't anything too dangerous, I promise. Now lets go to the library, alright?" He could see the blonde frown at that.

"After seeing what happened to Junko, I'd say interacting with it is dangerous. Especially if you're asking about this schools secrets... Who knows, the Mastermind might think you know too much, and do away with you. It's unlikely, but I want to keep you safe... I was worried about you, you know."

Did Makoto not realize how much he meant to him? He had... never felt this way about anyone before. He'd never really been concerned about the safety of other students, or even been friends with anyone, as he was taught that it was a weakness. That was just how it had always been in his family. However, Makoto was different. He couldn't help feeling this way towards him. Even if his family didn't approve... Yes, he wanted to stay with him even after they escaped Hopes Peak. That was going to be his final decision... He was the only person he truly cared for, he couldn't lose him, no matter what.

"... Did you even put the knife back in your room?"

"Of course I did! Kirigiri came to my door right after I did though, and well, I can't tell you what for."

"Alright..." At least he hadn't been completely lying to him about what he was doing. Of course Kirigiri would have sidetracked him... He didn't understand why she'd trust him if she was so suspicious. Was it his personality? He definitely wouldn't seem like the 'traitorous' or 'murderous' type... That had to be it. She had no solid evidence for her suspicion, anyways.

Makoto tightly held onto the heirs hand as they made their way up to the second floor, relieved he believed him. Still... He was worried that Kirigiri hadn't gotten enough time to figure out what the key was for without getting caught. She may be their only chance to get out of the school, without anyone else, maybe other than the mastermind, dying. Hopefully she had made it... Well, there went his 'worry-free' day, though he supposed that there was no such thing in an environment like this. At least he could relax with his boyfriend for now. This time they'd better not be interrupted! Honestly, couldn't they just have a day to themselves? Thankfully, no one else spent much time in the library other than Byakuya, other than Fukawa, though it would be easy for Byakuya to just tell her to run off, as she always obeyed him for whatever reason... It was a bit unnerving, her obsession with him. No, more than just a bit, it was really unnerving! At least she would be out of their hair after that, as strange as her behavior was, at the very least it was convenient...

The two entered the dimly lit library together, and thankfully, Fukawa was nowhere to be seen. "Aren't you going to get a book to read, Makoto?" Byakuya asked as he picked one off the shelf, briefly letting go of the brunettes hand. He shook his head at the question. Makoto didn't feel much like reading at the moment. The other shrugged this off with a muttered "Alright then...", before sitting down on a couch in the back of the library, his boyfriend following close behind him, laying down next to him and letting his head rest in his lap. Slowly but surely, with the dimness of the room and the relaxing atmosphere, the assassin began to doze off, his surroundings becoming distant as he drifted off into a light sleep.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy end of 2016!! I thought I might as well finish this before the year ends aha~

"Makoto, wake up." The brunette woke up to the sound of his boyfriends voice, mumbling drowsily and staring up at him. "What...?" Byakuya chuckled quietly at this, brushing the boys hair out of his face. "You've been sleeping for so long, it's time for lunch already." Makoto smiled slightly at this, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Alright, alright, I'm up... Were you just reading this whole time?" The blonde nodded, though he wasn't surprised. The heir had spent most of his time in the library before they started dating, so he obviously enjoyed reading. 

"Did you finish your book?"

"No, not yet. I only got about halfway through. I'm sure you're hungry by now though, so lets go now."

Byakuya was right about that, he was quite hungry, probably from all that running around this morning. The boy nodded and yawned, slowly getting off the couch they'd been resting on. He was a bit surprised Monokuma hadn't yelled at him for falling asleep, as the students weren't supposed to sleep anywhere but their dorm rooms, however he just figured that the Mastermind hadn't noticed or simply just didn't care. Well, either way, he felt quite lucky about that. 

He was about to turn around and help Byakuya off the couch, though before he could his boyfriend had already grabbed his hand and was leading him out of the library. He was quick... He must be hungry, too.

"Hey, Byakuya, what did you eat before you came here?" 

"Hm? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, did you used to eat like, really fancy food? Three-course meals? That kind of stuff?"

"Well... Yes, though I didn't consider it fancy. The food was always prepared by the professional chefs my father had, so of course even the food at my private school was... Disappointing at best." The blonde sighed. "Though I suppose it would be quite 'fancy' to you. The food provided here doesn't even meet my standards, however it's the only thing to eat, so it's not like any of us have a choice."

Really? The food here was actually pretty good, in Makoto's opinion, though he supposed it must be nothing compared to what the Heir used to eat. "Hehe, too bad we don't have the Super High School Level Chef in our class, huh?" The title sounded familiar... He'd probably read it online, or maybe Komaeda had mentioned the title a few times... Was that student in his class? Maybe, his memories of what Komaeda used to talk to him about were vague and distant seeming nowadays... He did talk about his classmates a lot though, and that Reserve Course student, so he figured that was where he had heard of him. 

"Hm, I suppose that would be a lot better than some of the other idiotic talents in this class." His tone was cold, and it was clear he wasn't fond of his classmates, for the most part.

Makoto could only assume he was referring to Yamada and Hagakure's talents. Well, Byakuya didn't seem like the type to believe in fortune telling, or even consider reading fanfiction... Doujinshi, wasn't that what Yamada called his comics sometimes? "Hehe, yeah, but do you really think they'd cook for us? They could be selfish and stuck-up, for all we know!"

"That's right, though still, with all the funds this school has, you'd think they'd have a professional chef..."

"Well, we don't really know if this is the real Hopes Peak Academy or not... Either way though, I don't think the Mastermind would've wanted to trap a staff member here, I mean, none of the teachers are here either!"

"Right... And it's still a mystery how we ended up here in the first place. We all blacked out as soon as we were near the school. There's no way the Mastermind could have possibly drugged all our breakfasts that morning."

"Mhm, it really is strange... Though even if we never figure that part out, what really matters is getting out of here! There are very few of us left, and the last floor has been opened, we have to be getting close to finding a way out, right?"

"I should hope so."

Lunch was fairly uneventful, though, wanting to tell Byakuya what was going on with Kirigiri, he was taking him to the bathhouse as soon as they finished. The cafeteria was so... Empty, in all honesty. Fukawa sat by herself at the table furthest from all the others, and Asahina, Kirigiri, and Hagakure were all sitting at one table. Kirigiri was sitting with those two? She usually sat by herself... Though at this point she must be getting lonely. It would be good for her to get some friends! The thought of that made him a bit more cheerful for whatever reason. He'd felt like Kirigiri and him were supposed to be friends for a while now, though her suspicion, even if rightful was getting in the way of that. Oh well, he would make his best efforts to befriend her after all this was sorted out. It was strange, really, when he first got here it felt like some of the other students were already his friends, even if they hadn't grown very close due to their... Unusual circumstances. 

"Are you ready to go?" They had spent quite a while at lunch, as they had been talking most of the time rather than eating. They had a late lunch anyways, if they could see the sky it might even be dark out by now.

The heir nodded, standing up. "Yes. Are we going back to my room now?"

"No, there's something I have to tell you first." 

Byakuya seemed to get what he was talking about right away, which the assassin was thankful for. Trying to awkwardly explain what it was in front of the cameras would be, well, difficult, and certainly raise some suspicion. 

The bathhouse was, as usual, uncomfortably warm and humid. The both of them both had to resist the urge to take off their jackets- Well, Naegi ended up just tying his blazer around his waist a few seconds after entering. It was just too warm in here...

"Are you going to tell me what you were doing with Kirigiri earlier?" He asked, clearly having been wanting to know since the situation arose.

Makoto nodded, before beginning to explain himself. "I had just finished putting the knife in my room, when Kirigiri decided to show up unannounced at my door. I guess it was just dumb luck I happened to be there when she showed up, but I'm sure she would've found me eventually. Anyways, she wanted to talk in the bathhouse, since there aren't any cameras, and since I'm pretty sure if she tried to attack me I could take her on, I obliged. That's where she showed me what she had stolen from Monokuma-"

"The 'stolen treasure' he was rambling about earlier?"

"Yes, exactly that! It was a key she had found in the Principals Office, and along with that, she found the files on a sixteenth student that's possibly hiding in this school named Mukuro Ikusaba. I don't think Kirigiri thinks this Mukuro girl is the Mastermind, but in any case, she told me to watch out for her, as she's probably dangerous..."

"How did she get into the Principals Office? It was sealed shut, was it not?"

"Sakura opened it before she, well..." A brief moment of grim silence fell upon the two, before Naegi shook his head and continued explaining. "Anyhow, she wanted to see where exactly this key was for, so she put me up to the task of distracting Monokuma and the Mastermind while she did that, and judging by the fact Kirigiri is still alive, I think I did a pretty good job at that! So that's why I was taking so long to get back to you in the library..."

There was another short silence, before Byakuya nodded. "I see. I suppose you did what was right after all... I apologize for not believing you entirely at first."

"Hehe, I don't blame you! I mean, I'd be pretty suspicious if I was in your place." 

"This sixteenth student though... Do we know anything else about her?"

"No, not that Kirigiri told me at least. I do think she has some kind of role in all this though, I mean, why else would the Mastermind have her information hidden like that? If she isn't the Mastermind, she must be working with them somehow..."

"That's a logical assumption, though we have no way of knowing who's side she's on, what she's planning, or if she's even in this school. She could be dead for all we know. Though the fact we know nearly nothing makes her even more of a threat. Kirigiri was right when she told you to watch out, as much as I hate to admit that..."

"Right, right..."

The name Mukuro Ikusaba still sounded so... Familiar to him, it was strange. He couldn't recall reading about her when he was reading about his other classmates online. Was she another upperclassman in Komaeda's class? No, that didn't sit quite right with him. It had to be something else... Before he knew it, the night hours had fallen upon them, and he was once again asleep in Byakuya's bed after dinner. While the blonde seemed to be sleeping comfortable however, Naegi wasn't sound at all, tossing and turning as if he were having a nightmare. 

_"Yeah, I know. My goal isn't to leave." He could see glimpses of somewhere he knew, his school, it was... Hopes Peak. He could see a classroom without steel covering the windows, he could see the track outside he had run on during gym, he knew this place so well... "I want to stay here." He could see the pool, he had swam in with his classmates. "It's all for the sake of hope. I **need** to stay here."_

His eyes shot open as he woke up, a terrible feeling in his stomach. He felt like he was being... Watched. Squinting in the darkness, he could just barely make out the figure of a person standing at the end of the bed. ".... Byakuya...?" No, that wasn't him, their shape wasn't quite right, and his boyfriend was asleep right next to him. They wore a white jacket, and they stood there, just... Staring at him. He could feel the sweat dripping down his face, and in an instant, they were right over him, though he could not see their face, as a wrestling mask covered it. 

Wait.

His heart felt like it had stopped in his chest. The gleam of metal shone in the dark... A knife. They had a knife! But he couldn't move, and everything faded into darkness. Was this how he died..? No, this couldn't be it... He slowly opened his eyes once more, and saw Kirigiri had entered the room. Just what was she doing here...? What had just happened? Where had the mysterious person gone?

"Ki...Kirigiri?"

She was saying something, but he couldn't hear her. His vision kept moving in and out of focus, his head spinning and his heart feeling like it was going to explode. Cold sweat was still running down his face, and he felt so... Disorientated.

"Wh... What..? What are you... saying...?" 

It seemed almost impossible to speak. He was so tired, so, so tired for some reason... What was happening? He didn't get what was going on... Before he could manage to think about anything any longer though, his eyes shut, and he once again succumbed to his exhaustion.


	21. Chapter 21

Makoto woke up with a gasp, sitting straight up in bed the moment he was conscious. His heart was pounding in his chest, and there was sweat dripping down his face. Had that all just been a nightmare? He felt the bed shift next to him, noticing Byakuya was waking up. He was alright... Thank goodness. If all of that was real, though, that masked figure easily could've killed both him and his boyfriend. God, why couldn't he move?! Was it sleep paralysis?

"Makoto...?" The blonde mumbled, sitting up and staring at him with a concerned look on his face. "What's the matter?"

"Nn... Nothing, nothing, I just had a nightmare." Makoto replied, shaking his head. Now he was paranoid... If the Mastermind really wanted them dead, then they could just come into their room any time and kill them. And he couldn't do anything... Was he out of practice? Had he somehow forgotten how to fight back? No, he wouldn't let that happen! He was going to go to the locker room and work out, just in case... Not only was there that, but that strange... Flashback? If that really was a flashback, that would mean... He had already gone to school here... 'It's all for the sake of hope. I need to stay here.' What did that mean? He couldn't stay here! Staying here was the opposite of hope... It just made no sense!

"... Are you sure that's it? You seem pretty shaken up about it." Byakuya asked, clearly incredulous of his reply. It must be obvious he was a little messed up over it.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, I promise. Don't worry about me." The brunette smiled at him, before leaning over to kiss Byakuya's forehead. His boyfriend smiled slightly at this, though it seemed he still didn't believe him about it just being a nightmare.

"If you say so... But I will always worry about you. I do love you, after all, how am I not supposed to worry about you in a place like this, hm?" He murmured, it being clear now he was still quite sleepy. The blonde closed his eyes once more as he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him closer, hugging him like a teddy bear. "Mm... Let's stay in bed a little while longer..."

Makoto chuckled quietly at how sleepy his boyfriend was, moving one had up to his hair to run his fingers through it. "Yeah, we don't need to get up for a while..." Even though he hadn't brushed it yet this morning, his hair wasn't very messy or tangled, quite the opposite of his own hair. Makoto himself seemed to have a constant case of bedhead... The assassin held him close as Byakuya fell asleep once more, though something was making his heart feel heavy. If he wasn't able to fight back in his dream, then... Byakuya would be... He tightly shut his eyes as he felt them water up at that. No! He couldn't allow that to happen! Whether or not he himself lived or died was less important, honestly, he needed to make sure Byakuya was alive and well. He pulled away from him slightly to look at his face. His sleeping face was cute, as always... He loved him so much... He would do everything in his power to protect him!

He carefully pulled away from him, making sure not to wake him up, before getting out of bed to check if the door was still locked. His heart seemed to stop for a moment as soon as he realized that the door was unlocked... No... Was the dream real?! The knife the mysterious figure was holding... Now that he thought about it, that was the same knife that Fukawa found! The one he had been given to keep in his room! If that was real, then it should be gone, right? The brunette changed as quickly as he could, before throwing on his shoes, grabbing his keys, and swiftly making his way to his bedroom. Once again, the door was unlocked. Oh no, no no no... He had now broken into a cold sweat, rushing inside and checking the drawer he had put it in. It was gone... He checked every possible place it could've been, however, it was nowhere to be seen. That meant... He really had nearly been killed last night. Did that mean those 'flashbacks' were real, and that when he saw Kirigiri, she was really there? He should go ask her, but first, he had to go back to Byakuya's room and at least lock the door, though maybe he should wait until he woke up again and tell him what really happened, now that he was sure it was real.

With slightly shaky steps, he made his way back to his boyfriend's room, locking his bedroom door as he left. He couldn't have anyone just barging in there and finding all the weapons in his room, surely then they'd figure something out. Especially if that person was Kirigiri... He knew she'd probably find out eventually, however, he'd stall her from finding out for as long as he could.

He made sure to lock the door as he entered his boyfriend's room again, taking his shoes off and sitting on the end of the bed. He should let Byakuya rest, since he was so tired, but this was urgent. They were likely in serious danger... But he just didn't have the heart to wake him up. He really had become a softie, hadn't he? He chuckled quietly at the thought. He supposed he should let him rest a little while longer... He'd stay awake and make sure no one tried to break into their room once again.

About an hour passed, and much to Makoto's relief, Byakuya finally began to stir. The blonde mumbled as he woke up again, seeming a bit displeased that he was no longer holding the brunette in his arms. "Mm, Makoto..? What are you doing up? I thought we were..." Makoto chuckled quietly at this, leaning over to kiss the side of his face.

"Mhm, we were cuddling, but... I have something important to talk to you about."

Byakuya frowned at this, before sitting up once again. "What is it?"

"Well..." Where was he supposed to start? Maybe he shouldn't be telling him this the very second he woke up... Or was that just him trying to stall? Whatever, he was telling him now! "That nightmare I said I had last night wasn't actually a... Nightmare. It was real. The knife Fukawa found isn't in my room anymore-"

"Wait, what? Do you know who took it?" He could see Byakuya was worried now, though he was mostly confused about what was going on. Urgh, he should've explained what happened first before he mentioned the knife had been stolen!

"No, I don't know, but I think it must've been the Mastermind, or someone working with them. I woke up in the middle of the night last night to see... Whoever it was standing over me with the knife- I-I would've done something, but I couldn't move for some reason! I noticed they had the knife that I had been keeping in my room, too. At first I thought that it was just a nightmare, or maybe even sleep paralysis at the worst, but when I checked my room earlier, the knife was gone..."

There was a long pause between them, Byakuya's face turning exceedingly pale.

"... The mysterious sixteenth student Kirigiri informed you of... Do you think it could be her?"

"Mukuro Ikusaba? I think it might be... I saw Kirigiri as well-"

"Kirigiri? What was she doing?" It was clear that Byakuya was quite suspicious of her, though he had never really trusted her in the first place. 

"I'm not sure... She was saying something to me, but I couldn't tell what. I think maybe she somehow got... Whoever that was out of here, but honestly I'm not sure of anything that happened. All I know is I saw someone, and they took the knife from my room." Naegi sighed, shaking his head. "I definitely have to ask Kirigiri about this... But we should get some breakfast first, shouldn't we? We can't figure anything out on an empty stomach, after all." He smiled at the heir, and he seemed to cheer up slightly at that.

"Well, I could if I wanted to, though breakfast does sound nice."

"Pfft, yeah yeah, whatever. Sure you could." Makoto rolled his eyes at that, chuckling quietly to himself. He found him quite amusing sometimes...

"I could! Let me just get dressed first, then we can go."

"Alright, but hurry up, I'm starving!" Makoto sat down on their bed for a moment as Byakuya got up to get dressed, though he then remembered he hadn't gotten done getting ready for the day due to him being so intent on, well, seeing if that was all real or not. That was nerve-wracking... But for now it seemed they were going to be alright. He would make sure they would be alright too, even if it meant he had to stay up all night to make sure that this mysterious figure didn't try to kill them again. He didn't need Kirigiri saving them again, anyways! He could fend them off himself... He was an assassin after all.

"Are you ready to go, Makoto?" The heir asked, standing in the bathroom doorway as he waited for him. "And you were telling me to hurry up..."

"Just hold on a sec, okay?" He had been trying to brush his hair, however, the comb ended up just getting stuck due to how messy it was.

"Pfft, you look ridiculous." Byakuya shook his head, chuckling to himself, before helping him get the comb out of his hair. "There's really no point in trying to brush it out. It looks cute messy, anyways." 

Makoto blushed slightly at his words, turning his head away from him. "If you say so... Still, I really need to brush it one of these days."

"Hm, I suppose it might look nice if it were neat... But I prefer it the way it is now." Byakuya ruffled his hair gently with his hand. He might want to brush it out if they were going somewhere formal, though he was sure that would be a long time from now. Maybe on their first date once they got out of here? Bringing Makoto somewhere nice certainly sounded like a good idea to him. 

"You're just saying that to flatter me..." The brunette giggled quietly, shaking his head. 

"Mm, no, I really do believe so." He leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, before grabbing his hand and intertwining their fingers. "Well, should we go now?"

"Yeah, let's go!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait!! My mental health has been pretty eeehh not so good lately but I finally got the motivation to whip up another chapter! I hope you enjoyed it, I'll try to update sooner next time!


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